BUSH AMBUSHED at Last and OBAMANIA Hits the Galaxy!
Troubled Galaxy Destroyed Dreams: Chapter 149
Martin Luther King, Jr.: I Have a Dream
http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=iEMXaTktUfA
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Martin Luther King, Jr.'s last speech
http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=o0FiCxZKuv8
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Barack Obama Speaks at Dr. King's Church
On the day before the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, Senator Barack Obama delivers a speech to the congregation of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia.
http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=Kf0x_TpDris
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Barack Obama: 'A More Perfect Union' (Full Speech)
http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=zrp-v2tHaDo
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President-Elect Barack Obama in Chicago
Barack Obama was elected the 44th President of the United States on November 4th, 2008 in Chicago.
http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=Jll5baCAaQU
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Super Tuesday Speech
Barack Obama speaks to a roaring crowd in Chicago, Illinois on the night of his victories throughout the primaries and caucuses of Super Tuesday.
http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=8dzHDzvTfzQ
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Warmonger George BUSH, the GREATEST ICON of ZIONIST WAR ECONOMY, has been AMBUSHED at last by the EMPOWERED People of United states Of America and OBAMANIA TSUNAMI hits the GALAXY! It is a CHANGE welcomed by the world with HOPE most Positive. but it seems rather a diofferent scenerion in India thanks to India Inc SATYAM ASATYAM and the FDI FED TOILET MEDIA!
Barack Obama has ridden his train to Washington, DC, and is ready to swear the oath of office on Abraham Lincoln's own bible at noon on Tuesday January 20th ...
Two days from the White House, President-elect Barack Obama joined a vast throng Sunday at a joyous pre-inauguration celebration staged among marble monuments to past heroes. "Anything is possible in America," declared the man who will confront an economic crisis and two wars when he takes office.
"Despite the enormity of the task that lies ahead, I stand here today as hopeful as ever that the United States of America will endure — that it will prevail, that the dream of our founders will live on in our time," the president-elect said at the conclusion of a musical extravaganza that featured U2, Beyonce, Bruce Springsteen and a host of other stars.
Obama and his family held the seats of honor at the event, and a crowd of tens of thousands spilled from the base of the Lincoln Memorial toward the Washington Monument several blocks away in the cold, gray afternoon of mid-January.
The BRAHAMINICAL PRIDE of Bengal,the SELF STYLED Mouthpiece of bengali nationality Anand Bazar Patrika mourns for War Monger Bush! The 13 lac Circulated daily news supports Buddhadeb and His Marxist Ways of Capitalism but opposes vehemently Marxism and the Party ruling West Bengal, the CPIM! Our Comrade Friends may not start their day without reading anand bazar Patrika which , perhaps , might be the only News Paper on this planet which justified US Aggression onIRAQ and Afaganistan. The daily is a valient CRUSADER for SEZDRIVE, Refugee Deportation and war against imperialism! The EDIT published today pointed out the BLUNDERS of george Bush which created so much Crisis for the UNIPOLAR Superpower. then it paraises the BUTCHER for hias INITIATIVE to operationalise the INDO US NUclear deal! It emphasises most on INDO US strategic RELATIONSHIP strengthened during BUSH Regime and hopes it to continue even in OBAMANIA Period! President George W. Bush said Friday that while the current economic crisis has sent shock waves around the world, he believes steps taken by his administration have "laid the groundwork for a return to economic growth and job creation" early in the administration of President-elect Barack Obama. Ananda bazar and Indian media also sets the TUNE to voice INDIA friendly Bush Junior! While, US President-elect Obama forewarned Americans of the tough days ahead and said that meeting the challenges will be tough. Meanwhile, a Wisconsin man was arrested in Mississippi for threatening to kill President-elect Barack Obama on his January 20 inauguration!
Lest we should not MISS the WARMONGER anymore, INDIA may boast for the MOST LETHAL TRIO tohold the POWER Brahaminical, Pranab Mukherjee, Lal Krishna Adwani or Narendra Modi and Buddhadeb Bhattacharya continuing the GENOCIDE Culture! Pranab speaks in Language Americanism! While DR Amartya sen, another Bengali KULIN Brahaminical ICON, the most suitable Spokesperson for india Inc and LPG mafia as well as THE RULING MARXIST BRAHAMINICAL hegemony remains there and you may not have to mourn for OUTGOING PAULSON. Hillary Clinton suits well the Hindutva zionist psyche as the BLACK WOMAN Condy Darling departs!
Keeping up with the strong line being adopted on terror, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Monday called for adopting zero tolerance stand towards terrorism and dismantling of terrorist infrastructure wherever it exists. In an apparent reference to Pakistan’s non fulfillment of its commitments to tackle terror with an iron hand, the minister said that those who go back on their words must pay. Underlining the fact that terrorism is a global issue, Mukherjee underlined, “We need an international committee to tackle terror.”
He also said that it is the duty of the respective governments to prevent their territory from being used for fomenting terror.
Earlier, Minister of State for Defence PC Raju gave thumbs down to investigations by Pakistan and said, “Efforts made by Pak till now on 26/11 evidence are eyewash.” Commenting on the Islamic nation’s political set up and the well documented subservient nature of the government to the Army and ISI, the minister said, “There are several power centres in Pakistan and the government has no control over them.”
The government’s tough line comes at a time when Pakistan is briefing the envoys on its investigation into the Mumbai terror attacks and the steps taken by it.
The TELEGRAPH, the sister of Anand bazar patrica Published today a SURVEY report to PROVE INDIA as the BEST Friend of america! Just read:
Indians are America’s best friends in world
REUTERS AND OUR BUREAU
Jan. 18: A poll has revealed that India and Poland are the only two countries with major economies, apart from America itself, that view the US favourably.
India’s score of 72 — the percentage of its people who approve of America — leaves Poland (53) far behind and runs the US (74) close.
India was the lone country other than the US where a majority said America does contribute to international peace and co-operation.
The findings were made public ahead of Barack Obama’s inauguration. But the online survey was conducted in late November after Obama’s election, which makes it difficult to conclude whether the results endorse Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s statement to George W. Bush in September that “the people of India deeply love you”.
If the Prime Minister, as the head of the government, meant that India as a nation loves the US as another country, which happened to be represented by Bush then, the poll results do vindicate Singh.
But the outcome cannot be delinked entirely from Bush. Although his presidency had slipped into the lame-duck phase in November, the opinions reflected would have had a lot to do with his policies, with the US drawing the harshest criticism in the survey for its foreign policy.
The findings come at a time India is witnessing a burst of political incorrectness, with some industrialists hailing the riot-tainted Narendra Modi as a model.
The poll was conducted on behalf of Reuters by Ipsos Global Public Affairs, a market research and polling company. It surveyed 22,000 people from 22 countries that account for 75 per cent of the world’s GDP.
Although Reuters said that only in India and Poland did a majority back America, it added that pro-US respondents outnumbered anti-US ones in six other countries. It did not clarify whether a large number of “don’t knows” kept the America backers under 50 per cent in these six.
It was a tie in Britain and South Korea. Israel was not surveyed; nor was any Muslim nation other than Turkey.
Asked what they thought was important for a country to be respected, most respondents put human rights at No. 1, followed by citizens’ rights and contribution to international peace.
The US standard of living — the probable reason for a steady flow of immigrants even from the America-bashing countries — and contribution to the global economy drew good reviews, but those surveyed ranked those values far lower in importance.
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090119/jsp/frontpage/story_10410350.jsp
Coincidentally, STAR ANAND, the electronic media owned by Ananda Publications and Star TV aired a DOCU Feature on the LIVING LEGEND of BENGALI SILVER screen SUCHITRA SEN glamourising her SPRITUAL life as well as Ram KRISHNA MISSION which once again sustains the BRAHAMINICAL HEGEMONY challenged by several recent insurrections including Singur, Nandigram and Lalgarh. This happens to be the ANAND EQUATION of Fascist HINDUISM and ZIONIST US CORPORATE Imperialism!
With just hours left in his presidency, President George W. Bush on Monday made a round of phone calls to about a dozen leaders around the globe.The White House said Bush chatted with: President Mikhail Saakashvili of Georgia; President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin of Russia; President Lee Myung-bak of South Korea; Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen of Denmark; Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi of Italy; former President Vicente Fox of Mexico; Prime Minister Taro Aso of Japan; and Prime Minister Gordon Brown of Britain; President Shimon Peres of Israel; and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said that during the farewell calls, Bush thanked the leaders for the hospitality they had shown him and first lady Laura Bush over the years.
The Obama administration has geared itself for not only a smooth transition, but also pushing its agenda on fast-track from Day One. Taking the reins of power at a time of great economic crisis and in the middle of two wars, the team has certainly lot to live up to.
While hundreds of thousands of people were on the National Mall celebrating the impending inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama, the current occupant of the White House was enjoying a low-key evening with current and former staffers.President George W. Bush and first lady Laura Bush left the White House on Sunday evening to have dinner with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice at her apartment in the Watergate complex.After dinner, the Bushes traveled to Glen Echo Park, Md., to attend a party hosted by White House chief of staff Josh Bolten and former chief of staff Andrew Card. The Bushes only stayed for about five minutes before heading back to the White House.
Under the gaze of Abraham Lincoln's statue, Bruce Springsteen and a red-robed gospel choir kicked off a spirited preinaugural concert Sunday before tens of thousands on the National Mall.
The crowd erupted in cheers when Obama and his wife, Michelle, arrived, walking down the steps of the memorial, and kept applauding for the high-energy Springsteen act and the performances that followed.
There was no red carpet, but the event had the feel of a Hollywood awards ceremony, with stars taking the stage to praise, serenade, and even impersonate the next president.
Performers including Bono, Beyonce and James Taylor were on the bill.
A crowd expected to reach up to a half-million was stretched past the reflecting pool separating the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument.
Obama and his wife and Vice President-elect Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, sat behind bullet-proof glass near the stage erected on the steps of the memorial.
The concert began with Springsteen, dressed in black, singing "The Rising," with the help of the choir, taking a song best known as a call to action following the 2001 terror attacks and using it to usher in a new era in American politics.
Denzel Washington was the first celebrity to speak, telling the crowd, "we are all in this together."
Another speaker was actor Tom Hanks, who as Forrest Gump famously gave a speech at the monument steps and jumped into the reflecting pool. This time, he appeared in a dark suit and read a somber tribute to Abraham Lincoln.
Jamie Foxx brought many in the crowd - and the Obamas - to their feet by repeatedly urging those from Chicago to make some noise: "Chi-town, stand up!" he demanded.
Foxx then launched into a quick impersonation of the president-elect.
Joe Biden told the crowd: "Look around you. Look at the grace and grandeur that surrounds us and you'll see the work of American hands."
The crowd threw their hands up for Garth Brooks' thumping rendition of "Shout!" supported by a massive choir wearing red and blue jackets against the cold.
The crowd, including Obama and Biden, were writhing when Stevie Wonder, Usher, and Shakira pumped out Wonder's classic "Higher Ground."
Sheryl Crow and will.i.am performed "One Love," and golf great Tiger Woods, the son of a military man, urged the audience to remember the sacrifices of military families.
The event began with a convocation by the Right Rev. Gene Robinson, who asked the crowd to pray for "understanding that our president is a human being and not a messiah."
Brian Knowlton rightly reports for International Herald Tribune,Published: January 19, 2009:
WASHINGTON: Even before Barack Obama places his hand on Abraham Lincoln's Bible to take the oath of office at midday Tuesday, the tone of the day is clear: Beyond the pomp and requisite display of power's peaceful transfer, the new American president's accession will be a "people's inauguration."
Washington has been transformed for the occasion as an African-American for the first time takes possession of the White House - an edifice built by slaves, who also waited on presidents until the 1850s. In an inaugural first, the entire National Mall, from the Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial, has been opened to the millions of visitors converging to celebrate the moment.
The arrival of Obama and his photogenic family - his wife, Michelle; his daughters, Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7; and his mother-in-law, Marian Robinson - has galvanized Washington, a majority-black city whose streets, just four decades ago, were torn by race riots.
The Neighborhood Ball being hosted by the Obamas - with affordable tickets for local residents - is something new in Washington, as are copycat inaugural balls accessible to the general public being held across the United States and in foreign cities like Paris and London.
But the exceptional festivities are just one element of the day. Obama has received more death threats than any president-elect in history, and so an intense blanket of security is also setting this inauguration apart.
The Obama team seized on a pair of historical coincidences to highlight the historic nature of the new president's rise to power. Monday - the national holiday celebrating Martin Luther King Jr., the civil rights leader whose "I have a dream" speech has reverberated throughout Obama's ascendancy - was declared a day for national service. And in a year when the bicentennial of Lincoln's birth is being celebrated, the inaugural weekend has also seen many moments of homage to the American president who freed the slaves.
The goal of all the symbolism? "To make this the most inclusive inauguration in history," said Linda Douglass, the inaugural committee spokeswoman.
Obama and his vice president, Joseph Biden Jr., chose to arrive in town via that most democratic mode of transport, the train, after a whistlestop trip that gave throngs of supporters along the route a chance to show their support.
But the best opportunity for tone-setting comes in the inaugural address. Obama, who has been studying Lincoln's second Inaugural, delivered in March 1865, barely a month before his assassination, said recently that he was almost intimidated by its succinct and poignant eloquence ("with malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right").
Some of the best-known presidential rhetoric has come in inaugurals. Franklin Roosevelt, speaking in the depths of the Depression in 1933, memorably assured his fellow Americans that they had "nothing to fear but fear itself." In 1961, John F. Kennedy issued the famous challenge: "Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country." He went on to create the Peace Corps and Vista, a domestic anti-poverty program.
But there are other ways to send signals.
Lincoln was the first president to include blacks in his inaugural parade. And Thomas Jefferson, though not a simple man (he could "calculate an eclipse, survey an estate, tie an artery, plan an edifice, try a cause, break a horse, dance a minuet and play the violin," John Adams said), wished to show himself as a common man and walked from his boardinghouse to the Capitol Building to be sworn in.
Years later, Jimmy Carter relinquished the presidential limousine to walk in his inaugural parade. The unassuming Carter also preferred calling the inaugural balls "parties" and insisted on affordable tickets.
But Ronald Reagan wanted none of that. With a population weighed down by stagflation, the draining Iranian hostage crisis and a deep sense of what Carter called "malaise," he believed the country needed something brighter. "We have every right to dream heroic dreams," Reagan said in his address. His official balls were glitzy affairs with stars like Frank Sinatra and Charlton Heston; gone were the peanut-and-pretzel menus featured at some of the Carter balls.
Obama's inaugural team faced a signal-sending conundrum: how to balance a moment of grave economic crisis against a desire to celebrate the historic moment (in dark moments like the eve of World War I or of the Great Depression, inaugural parades were canceled). Obama's answer was a bottoms-up people's inauguration, respectful of both realities, a four-day, doors-open celebration aimed at bringing in ordinary people rather than pricing them out. Millions of dollars, mostly in small donations, were raised on the Internet. And costs were kept down by an unprecedentedly broad use of volunteers: The inaugural committee wanted to enlist perhaps 15,000, but four times that number applied.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/01/19/america/oday.1-403764.php
Barack Obama
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Barack Hussein Obama II (pronounced /b?'r??k h?'se?n o?'b??m?/; born August 4, 1961) is the President-elect of the United States of America, and the first African American to be elected President of the United States. Obama was the junior United States Senator from Illinois from January 3, 2005, until his resignation on November 16, 2008, following his election to the presidency. His term of office as President of the United States is scheduled to begin after he is sworn in as the forty-fourth President of the United States at noon EST (17:00 UTC) on January 20, 2009, in an inaugural ceremony at the U.S. Capitol.
Obama is a graduate of Columbia University and Harvard Law School, where he was the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review. He worked as a community organizer, and practiced as a civil rights attorney in Chicago before serving three terms in the Illinois Senate from 1997 to 2004. He also taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School from 1992 to 2004. Following an unsuccessful bid for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2000, Obama was elected to the Senate in November 2004. Obama delivered the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in July 2004.
As a member of the Democratic minority in the 109th Congress, Obama helped create legislation to control conventional weapons and to promote greater public accountability in the use of federal funds. He also made official trips to Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. During the 110th Congress, he helped create legislation regarding lobbying and electoral fraud, climate change, nuclear terrorism, and care for U.S. military personnel returning from combat assignments in Iraq and Afghanistan.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama
George W. Bush
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
George Walker Bush ( /'d??rd? 'w??k? 'b??/ (help·info); born July 6, 1946) is the forty-third and current President of the United States. He served as the forty-sixth Governor of Texas from 1995 until 2000 before being sworn in as President on January 20, 2001. His term will end on January 20, 2009.[3]
Bush is the eldest son of former U.S. President George H. W. Bush and Barbara Bush. After graduating from Yale University, Bush worked in his family's oil businesses. He married Laura Welch in 1977 and unsuccessfully ran for the United States House of Representatives shortly thereafter. He later co-owned the Texas Rangers baseball team before defeating Ann Richards to become Governor of Texas in 1994. In a close and controversial election, Bush was elected president in 2000 as the Republican candidate, receiving a majority of the electoral votes, but losing the popular vote to Al Gore.
Eight months into his first term as President, the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks occurred and Bush announced a global War on Terrorism, ordered an invasion of Afghanistan that same year and an invasion of Iraq in 2003. In addition to national security issues, President Bush has attempted to promote policies on the economy, health care, education, and social security reform. He has enacted large tax cuts, the No Child Left Behind Act[4] and Medicare prescription drug benefits for seniors, and his tenure has seen a national debate on immigration.[5]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_W._Bush
Obama's Inaugural Address: Great Expectations
President-Elect Has Set the Bar High for His Inauguration Day Speech
ANALYSIS
By JOHN COCHRAN
Jan. 19, 2009
For any incoming president, an inaugural address is a real challenge. For Barack Obama, it may be a stiffer challenge than for most of his predecessors.
Since his 2004 speech at the Democratic National Convention, Barack Obama has set the bar high -- meaning he may face a stiffer challenge than most in delivering his inaugural address.
(Jim Rogash/WireImage)
More PhotosObama is already known to be capable of giving a great speech. The nation discovered that when it discovered him, as he delivered his memorable address to the 2004 Democratic National Convention. He has set the bar high. Great expectations only add to his burden. Anything less than a stirring speech Tuesday will be a disappointment.
Obama's speech is expected to run about 15-20 minutes, which is on the short side compared to most inaugural addresses. The dominant theme will be "responsibility." It can't just be a laundry list of things he intends to do. Those lists are more appropriate for State of the Union addresses to Congress. Also, Obama has probably been more visible in recent weeks than any president-elect in a run-up to taking office. He has given speeches and interviews instead of saving his powder for Inauguration Day. So, we already have a reasonably good idea of what he hopes to do.
Watch live coverage of the Inauguration all day Tuesday beginning with "Good Morning America" at 7 a.m. ET and go to the Inauguration Guide for all of ABC News' coverage details.
His speech can't just be another call for bipartisanship and unity. Sure, he will be expected to talk about the need for cooperation and comity -- not only in Washington but throughout the country. But he has done that before, and so have other incoming presidents on their big days. Both of the Bushes did it, with mixed success.
George W. Bush came to office after a contentious electoral dispute saying he wanted to restore civility to Washington and calling for "goodwill and respect, fair dealing and forgiveness." His critics later claimed he failed to live up to those aspirations. In his final weeks as president, without laying blame on himself or others, he admitted to disappointment about the divisions that still exist.
His father, George H.W. Bush, wanted "to make kinder the face of the nation and gentler the face of the world." Some commentators were impressed by his attempt to reach out to Democrats and by his lack of belligerence; others found his "kinder, gentler" remarks a bit treacly. Late night comics lampooned them.
It is both a blessing and a curse for inaugural speeches that they often get reduced over time to a phrase or two. Bush 41 started talking about "a thousand points of light" during the campaign, emphasized them again in his inaugural address, and continued talking about them while in office. He wanted to encourage community organizations and other volunteers to continue and increase their good works. It resulted in a new foundation committed to volunteerism. But comics, especially impersonators, and especially on "Saturday Night Live," found the phrase "thousand points of light" worthy of satire.
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=6666797&page=1
Beholding poetry, promise, progress
BY CHRISTOPHER BURBACH
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
Today, Martin Luther King Day.
Barack Obama on Sunday at the Lincoln Memorial, where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his "I Have a Dream" speech in 1963.Tomorrow, Barack Obama's inauguration.
Jamal Jackson, 21, sees poetry in the convergence of those events, the annual holiday honoring America's most celebrated civil rights leader and the swearing-in of the nation's first African-American president.
The Rev. L.C. Menyweather-Woods, 56, sees promise.
Patricia Brizendine, 43, and Rod Mullen, 48, see progress.
Teenagers Sierra Hogan and Taylor Carodine see hope, and further evidence of an America changing before their eyes.
"I was born at the right time," Carodine said. "I'm just glad I'm living right now."
None of these black Omahans of various generations considers Obama's election to be the fulfillment of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s oft-quoted dream of American equality and justice. Rather, they believe it to be a step along the way.
Like Obama — who sent out a video urging people to spend today doing volunteer work and set up a text message system to help them find projects — they see King Day and Inauguration Day as being linked by more than just their proximity on the calendar.
"The image of what it's going to portray is poetic," said Jackson, a Creighton student who's president of the university's African-American Student Association, among other leadership roles. He was to receive Creighton's Legacy Award during holiday observances today.
"One day, Martin Luther King Day will be celebrated, and his dream was all about equality. And on the next day, you have the first African-American president being inaugurated. It's basically history over two days."
That said, one election does not end centuries of U.S. race problems.
"It is not the end of racism in America," Jackson said. "It is not the realization of King's dream completely. It's steps that we are taking. To resolve 300 years of history is not a sprint — it's a marathon."
King's "I Have a Dream" speech, delivered in 1963 at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., will echo across the country again today during holiday observances. People may think of Obama when they hear this line: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."
"Individually, people judged (Obama) by the content of his character and not the color of his skin," said Menyweather-Woods, assistant professor in the Black Studies Department at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.
A retired pastor who worked in the civil rights movement, he said that fact is something to celebrate. And he plans to.
"It shows the promise of the dream — we are moving toward the fulfillment of the dream," Menyweather-Woods said. "But it is not the fulfillment of the dream."
Menyweather-Woods said the essence of King's dream is laid out in the usually overlooked first part of that 1963 speech. That portion addressed discrimination and injustice — legal, social and economic — that black people faced as a group. It described the "magnificent words of the Constitution and Declaration of Independence" as a promissory note to all Americans — a note that the nation had defaulted on when it came to its African-American citizens.
America has not reached the balance of justice that King sought, Menyweather-Woods said.
"Individually, we have achieved," he said. "But the whole civil movement was about not just individuals' progress, but we as a group progressing. We're not there yet."
Inequality and injustice still exist — in education, employment, housing and other areas, Menyweather-Woods said.
Obama, he said, did not address poverty in his campaign. Rather, Obama appealed to the middle class.
But by bringing Americans together, "Obama will bring us toward the point of seeing our relationship with each other in the midst of everything — what happens to one of us, happens to all of us."
For Brizendine and Mullen, social studies teachers at Central High School, Obama's Inauguration Day following the King holiday illustrates the cause-and-effect relationship between the civil rights era and America's 44th president.
"It was because of what (King) and others did that this was possible," Brizendine said.
She's loving watching history unfold in the eyes of her children, twin 8-year-olds and a 10-year-old. They were thrilled about Obama's candidacy — one of her boys combined campaigning with trick-or-treating, asking people with John McCain yard signs, "You're not voting for Obama?"
In Mullen's class, a recent lesson on U.S. ties to ancient Africa led to a lively discussion that brought in King and the Obama inauguration and lasted past the end of class.
"I had to tell them OK, that's enough," Mullen said.
America, he said, "is starting to arrive at a place where maybe change is possible."
Taylor Carodine, 17, and Sierra Hogan, 16, see change happening now.
Yes, Obama's election is just one event. And no, racism isn't gone — Hogan and Carodine expect they'll face extra hurdles when they go for jobs, that they'll have to disprove stereotypes to get jobs and promotions.
But they said they see evidence in their own world — Central High School and family — that Obama's inauguration is part of the broader change for which King and other civil rights leaders worked.
Jackson sees hope, too, and a calling.
"We have taken an important step," he said. "Americans are actively trying to shed their judgmental nature when it comes to people who are different from the majority. We need to look out into our local communities and say: Anything is possible now. Now, let's go make it happen ourselves, rather than waiting for someone to do it for us."
• Contact the writer: 444-1057, christopher.burbach@owh.com
http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=2798&u_sid=10541615
President George W. Bush said Friday that while the current economic crisis has sent shock waves around the world, he believes steps taken by his administration have "laid the groundwork for a return to economic growth and job creation" early in the administration of President-elect Barack Obama.
"The American economy has consistently proven its strength and resilience" Bush wrote in his final economic report to the nation.
He said this resilience has continued despite multiple blows to the economy.
Bush's statement came at the beginning of the annual report of the White House Council of Economic Advisers.
Those advisers predicted "a strong economic recovery early in the term of the next administration."
Bush said that a combination of factors rose to "threaten the entire financial system and generated a shock so large that its effects have been felt throughout the global economy."
"Under ordinary circumstances, it would be preferable to allow the free market to take its course and correct over time," he said. But, Bush added, the potential financial damage to households and businesses was so severe that "unprecedented government response was the only responsible policy option."
"A measure of stability has returned to the financial system," Bush said.
He warned that "temporary government programs" established to deal with the crisis "must remain temporary and be unwound in an orderly manner as soon as conditions warrant."
In the underlying economic report, Bush's economic advisers said that while the economy had in fact proven itself " remarkably resilient" over Bush's two-term presidency, there is a "risk that recent events may overshadow the many positive developments of the past eight years."
The advisers suggested that the economic downturn, reflected in the half-percentage-point contraction in the gross domestic product in the final quarter of 2008, will likely continue in the first half of 2009. The White House panel noted that "most market forecasts" suggested a recovery beginning in the second half of 2009 "that will gain momentum in 2010 and beyond."
Looking ahead, the president's economic advisers said the global financial crisis presents several remaining challenges for the U.S. government: the need to modernize financial regulation, unwind temporary programs, and develop a long-term solution for dealing with mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, now essentially under control of the government.
And Bush's advisers didn't miss an opportunity to put in a final political plug for the president's unfinished agenda, just five days before he leaves office.
"There remains considerable opportunity to strengthen our economic position by eliminating the uncertainty surrounding tax relief that is scheduled to expire."
It was a pitch to make permanent the Bush tax cuts that expire at the end of next year.
George W. Bush, American Poet?
A look at the controversy behind the authorship of "Dear Laura,".
http://www.nolanchart.com/article5830.html
VIDEO - RESPONDING TO ZIONIST PROPAGANDA 12-28-06
http://www.palestineremembered.com/GeoPoints/Responding
_to_Zionist_Propaganda_5356/Article_2762.html
On the eve of his inauguration, President-elect Barack Obama talked with wounded troops at a military hospital and then visited an emergency shelter for homeless teens. Grabbing a paint roller to help give the walls a fresh coat of blue, Obama said there can't be any "idle hands" at a time of national hardship.
Obama appealed to the nation he will soon lead to honor the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. through service to others. "It's not a day just to pause and reflect - it's a day to act," Obama said on King's national holiday. "I ask the American people to turn today's efforts into an ongoing commitment to enriching the lives of others in their communities, their cities, and their country."
Ever-growing crowds thronged to the capital city on the eve of Obama's elevation to the presidency. "Tomorrow, we will come together as one people on the same Mall where Dr. King's dream echoes still," Obama said.
A day away from becoming the nation's 44th president, Obama visited 14 injured vets from Iraq and Afghanistan at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
Then he visited Sasha Bruce House, a shelter for homeless teens in the District of Columbia, chatting with volunteers who were helping to repaint rooms and then pitching in himself.
"We can't allow any idle hands. Everybody's got to be involved," Obama said. "I think the American people are ready to do that."
Obama, whose presidential campaign made extensive use of the Internet to rally support and gather contributions, said, "The Internet is an amazing tool for us to be able to organize people together. We saw that in our campaign. But we don't just want to use if for winning elections; we want to use it for rebuilding America."
"Don't underestimate the power for people to join together to accomplish amazing things," Obama said.
As to his own painting efforts, Obama said: "I think I've got this wall covered." He once was immersed in such work as a community organizer in Chicago.
Michelle Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden's wife, Jill, were visiting RFK Stadium where people were at work wrapping care packages and writing letters to troops overseas.
On the National Mall, a party atmosphere was already evident by midday even though it had started snowing. Several of the large-screen televisions had begun rebroadcasting Sunday afternoon's concert, while in a corner near the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, the Boy's Choir of Kenya performed an impromptu selection for the crowd.
At the Capitol, hundreds of people pressed up against the blocked-off seating area in hopes of getting as close to the inaugural stage as possible.
"Everybody's excited," said Donald Butler, 20, a student at the University of Washington. "There are smiling faces everywhere, and it's a nice, diverse crowd. It's history. I didn't think I would see a black president in my generation. I just had to be here."
President George W. Bush, with just a day left in his term, made phone calls from the White House to Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and a dozen other world leaders to thank them for their work with him over the last eight years. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, meanwhile, was designated by the Bush administration to stay away from Tuesday's inaugural festivities "in order to ensure continuity of government," said Bush spokeswoman Dana Perino.
One official traditionally stays away when others in the line of presidential succession are gathered together, in case of a calamitous attack.
On the streets, live news broadcasts displayed on large-screen televisions attracted swarms of onlookers, and behind the scenes people made final preparations for a slew of parties, balls and other celebrations that will follow Obama's oath-taking and the inaugural parade.
Obama and Biden, fresh off a rollicking concert at the Lincoln Memorial on Sunday, were spending their final day before the inauguration with activities keyed to the celebration of King's life, cut short by an assassin's bullet in 1968.
"Today, we celebrate the life of a preacher who, more than 45 years ago, stood on our National Mall in the shadow of Lincoln and shared his dream for our nation. His was a vision that all Americans might share the freedom to make of our lives what we will; that our children might climb higher than we would," Obama said in a statement.
Obama said King's "was a life lived in loving service to others."
Meanwhile, two wreaths were erected at the future site of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial on the Tidal Basin between the Jefferson Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial. Groups of school children gathered around retired teacher Kirk Moses as he talked about King's legacy of nonviolence and the civil rights leader's connection to Obama.
"The cadence and syntax of Obama, it comes directly from Dr. King," said Moses, 60, as his group took pictures of the bronze plaque that sits where the memorial will be built.
The run-up to Obama's inauguration, like his election itself, has been defined by enormous public enthusiasm, carefully choreographed events and a lofty spirit of unity. What awaits, as Obama often reminds the nation, is many months, if not years, of tough work.
The weekend celebrations began Saturday with Obama's whistle-stop tour, from Philadelphia to Washington, along the path Abraham Lincoln took in 1861. Then came the roaring celebrity-filled concert where several hundred thousand people flanked the Reflecting Pool, hearing actors, singers and then Obama himself rally for national renewal.
The Presidential Inaugural Committee has launched a Web site, USAService.org, to help people find volunteer opportunities close to their homes.
The president-elect scheduled a busy Monday evening, too.
He was to attend three private dinners to honor former Secretary of State Colin Powell; Biden, a longtime senator from Delaware, and Sen. John McCain, the 2008 Republican presidential nominee.
Michelle Obama, the future first lady, was hosting a children's evening concert.
Runner Kim Person stopped in front of the Capitol to snap a few quick pictures of the reviewing stand during a break in her marathon training. Person doesn't have a ticket to the festivities, so she used the early morning lull to get close to the building.
"That's why I'm looking at it today, because I won't be able to see it tomorrow," said Person, 43, who plans to be near the Washington Monument on Tuesday.
Who makes the Obamas dance? Stevie Wonder!
Washington What President-elect Barack Obama has on his iPod may soon be a state secret, but musicians Stevie Wonder, Garth Brooks and Pete Seeger all got the president-elect moving at a concert on Sunday.
Obama, his wife Michelle and daughters Malia and Sasha sat sedately along with Vice President-elect Joe Biden and his wife Jill as Bruce Springsteen sang "The Rising" and Mary J. Blige did a knockout performance of "Lean on Me."
Early in the show, Obama's daughter Sasha, 7, fidgeted and a seemingly bored Malia, 10, laid her head on her mother's shoulder. Obama chatted occasionally with Biden as the two families sat behind bullet-proof glass at the side of the stage.
But there were signs of life when Garth Brooks took the stage, first singing "American Pie" and then "Shout," during which the first lady-to-be shot her hand into her air with Sasha.
Then came Stevie Wonder, Usher and Shakira -- the most diverse set of performers in a remarkably diverse show. Wonder and Usher are African-American while Shakira is a Colombian of Lebanese descent. With Wonder's "Higher Ground," the Obamas were on their feet and even did a bit of dancing.
Obama stood up with his family as Jamie Foxx shouted, "Chi-town, stand up!" The president-elect also laughed heartily at Foxx's imitation of his sometimes monotone, staccato style of speaking.
The Obamas sang along to "This Land is Your Land," performed by Bruce Springsteen, Pete Seeger and a grandson of Seeger, as did the gigantic crowd that stretched from the Lincoln Memorial down to the Washington Monument.
They also sang with Beyonce as she performed "America the Beautiful."
Gaza voices: Hamas and the truce
BBC News - 35 minutes ago
Three Palestinians across the Gaza Strip discuss the ceasefire and the role of Hamas in the war and its aftermath. There is no mutual accord between Hamas and Israel in this ceasefire - each side has its own truce and conditions.
Gaza Calm as Israeli Troops Continue Pullout Voice of America
Israel to keep tight grip on Gaza reconstruction Reuters
Xinhua - guardian.co.uk - Times Online - AFP
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ABC News
Die-hard Republicans wait for Obama shine to fade
AFP - 1 hour ago
WASHINGTON (AFP) - This week may see the biggest presidential inauguration in US history, but conservative uber-pundit Bill Kristol has vowed to leave Washington until the Obama mania subsides.
SCENARIOS - Ailing economy dominates Obama's domestic agenda Reuters
Schedule of events for Obama's inauguration The Associated Press
The Australian - Sydney Morning Herald - International Herald Tribune - Atlantic Online
all 8,836 news articles »
Massacre and destruction in Gaza
Warning: Some of the pictures are disturbing.
By ceasefire on 18 January 2009, the death toll of Palestinians exceeded 1200, several thousand were wounded and a vast swathe of territory was in ruins.
Pictures of Israeli terrorism in gaza
In pictures: Gaza Massacre
A Palestinian man cries over the body of his son following an Israeli air strike in Gaza December 27, 2008.
December 27, 2008
After announcements that a decision whether to increase the military attack on the Gaza Strip would be made tomorrow, Sunday, Israeli forces instead launched a major operation today.
The Israelis killed 150 Palestinians with more expected to die. The Israeli government says it is just the beginning. By cease-fire on 18 January 2009, the death toll of Palestinians exceeded 1200, several thousand were wounded and a vast swathe of territory was in ruins.
Bodies of Palestinian Policemen killed in the Israeli air strike
Bodies of Palestinians are seen at Shifa hospital in Gaza December 27, 2008
Bodies of Palestinian Policemen killed in the Israeli air strike
In this image taken from APTN video, Palestinian men carry two injured children into hospital after Israeli aircraft struck.
Palestinians lift a wounded woman to a vehicle after Israeli air force attacked Gaza City December 27, 2008.
Palestinians help a wounded man after Israeli air force attacked Gaza City December 27, 2008.
Palestinians transport the body of a Palestinian after Israeli air force attacked Gaza City December 27, 2008.
A Palestinian is rushed to hospital after he was wounded in an Israeli air strike on Gaza City.
A wounded Palestinian woman is rushed into hospital in Gaza City December 27, 2008.
Palestinians help a wounded man after Israeli air force attacked Gaza City December 27, 2008
Bodies of Palestinians are seen at Shifa hospital in Gaza December 27, 2008.
An explosion from an Israeli missile strike in the northern Gaza Strip
Smoke and fire are seen after an Israeli air strike in the northern Gaza Strip December 27, 2008
Palestinians inspects a destroyed Hamas police compounds following an Israeli air strike in Gaza December 27, 2008.
Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli air strike in Rafah, a town in the southern Gaza Strip.
The leg of a Hamas policeman is seen between the rubbles following an Israeli air strike in Gaza December 27, 2008
Smoke rises after an Israeli bomb exploded in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip December 27, 2008.
A Palestinian rescue worker inspects damage on a Hamas police compounds following an Israeli air strike in Gaza December 27
Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli air strike in the southern town of Rafah.
A Palestinian man cries over the body of his son following an Israeli air strike in Gaza December 27, 2008.
Palestinian medics recover the body of a dead woman from the rubble of a destroyed Hamas police compound following an Israeli air strike in Gaza December 27, 2008
A Hamas policeman asks for help as others try to recover a body from a destroyed Hamas police compounds following an Israeli air strike in Gaza December 27, 2008
A Palestinian Hamas policeman inspects the destroyed former office of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.
Bodies of Palestinians are seen at Shifa hospital in Gaza December 27, 2008
Palestinians run for cover following an Israeli missile strike in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Saturday, Dec. 27, 2008.(AP)
A wounded Hamas policeman lies on the ground following an Israeli air strike in Gaza December 27, 2008.
The body of a Hamas police officer is transported to hospital in Gaza City December 27, 2008.
Bodies of Palestinians are seen at Shifa hospital in Gaza December 27, 2008
A Palestinian woman wounded in Israeli missile strikes is helped into the emergency area at Shifa hospital in Gaza City, Saturday, Dec. 27, 2008. (AP)
Palestinians gather at the site of a security compound used by the Islamic group Hamas following an Israeli missile strike in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Saturday, Dec. 27, 2008.
Bodies of Palestinian Policemen killed in the Israeli air strike
Obama Presidency and the Muslim World
(Editorial of LISA Journal Issue No 9 by Usman Khalid)
The people living on both sides of the Durand Line have a long memory but little malice towards their erstwhile foes as long as the closure is amicable. When it is uncertain who is the victor, the one who is more generous emerges as the victor.
The most important events during the period covered by this issue include: 1) the election of the first ever black President - Barack Obama – in the United States; 2) Mumbai terrorist attack of 26/11 that may yet lead to another India-Pakistan War; 3) vicious Israeli air raids on Gaza destabilising the Middle East so soon after a satisfactory closure in Iraq was in sight. The challenges faced by the new President Obama are the focus of this issue….. Read
http://www.lisauk.com/Articles.asp?aid=566
Raising the pitch against countries that harbour terrorists, India on Monday said there should be zero tolerance to the scourge of terrorism and nations, which do not follow it should be made to "pay a heavy price" by the international community.
"Countries that do not follow zero tolerance to terrorism must be made to pay a heavy price by international community," External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee told a CII-sponsored 'Partnership Summit 2009' in New Delhi.
Seeking an international partnership to root out the menace of terrorism, Mukherjee said the global community should ensure that the states, which sponsored terror should be forced to dismantle the terrorist infrastructure.
"Countries that support or tolerate terrorism must have no choice but to dismantle terror infrastructure," he said.
However, he did not name any country that he may have had in mind while making these strong remarks against terror-sponsoring States.
Stating that Mumbai terror attacks had shocked the world, the Minister told the gathering of international diplomats, foreign dignitary and industry honchos that terrorism was one of the threats that affected all nations.
Mukherjee said India had long faced the scourge of terrorist activities and pointed out that there was a need for developing technologies in the global efforts to counter terrorism.
"However, adequate security to ensure such technologies do not fall in the wrong hands have to be provided," he said.
CPI-M's Lok Sabha member from Kannur, A P Abdullakutty, was today suspended from the party after he praised Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's development model.
The action was taken by the party's Mayyil area committee in Kannur district, to which Abdullakutty is a member, after the two-term MP stood by his statement, party sources said.
The party had earlier sought explanation from Abdullakutty for the statement he made while on a trip to Dubai praising the saffron leader's efforts in the development of Gujarat.
Risking disciplinary action, Abdullakutty, in his reply to the party, yesterday said that he stood by his remarks. He, however, said he rejected outright the ‘anti-minority’ stance of Modi.
In a statement released shortly after sending his reply to the area committee yesterday, Abdullakutty said he made the comment with the good intention of triggering a debate on development in the state which often suffered from such modes of protests like hartals.
Reacting to the development, Abdullakutty said he did not expect action against him.
The CPI(M) leaders had earlier said the party did not agree with any policy of Modi, including those relating to development which were at variance with the party's perception.
Mulayam denies meeting Kalyan
New Delhi Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav on Monday denied meeting dissident BJP leader Kalyan Singh but said he would welcome any move by the saffron party leader's son, Rajbir, to contest the Lok Sabha elections on SP's ticket.
"If I meet Kalyan Singh, I will let you know and announce it openly. You are spreading rumours," Yadav told reporters in New Delhi when asked about his reported meeting with Kalyan Singh.
Yadav, however, said Kalyan's son Rajbir is welcome to contest the Lok Sabha elections on SP's ticket, "if he so desires. He has not expressed his willingness so far".
Yadav, refusing to speculate on the moves of the BJP leader, said, "Kalyan Singh is a senior leader whom I respect a lot and cannot comment on him".
The SP chief's statement came a day after the two former Uttar Pradesh Chief Ministers' reported meeting in New Delhi, sparking off speculations about the possibility of the BJP's Ram temple campaigner aligning with his old friend ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.
SEZ: After 4 villages get Rs 213 cr, it’s turn of 7 more
Nisha Nambiar
Posted: Jan 18, 2009 at 0211 hrs IST
Pune Even as the state government is preparing a land acquisition policy on the basis of the Bharat Forge Ltd (BFL) Special Economic Zone at Khed in the district, the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) has finished measuring and issuing notices inviting objections from seven villages, aggregating 3,181 hectares, for the SEZ. During the first phase, land acquisition was carried out in four villages by paying farmers Rs 213 crore for 1,772 hectares at Rs 17 lakh per hectare.
Once the second phase gets over, only six of the 17 villages that came under acquisition for the SEZ will remain in the third phase. The government had notified 7,166 hectares encompassing 17 villages for the multi-product SEZ.
Deputy Collector and Officer on Special Duty (OSD) of MIDC Gajanan Patil said they had issued the section 32 (2) notices to the seven villages and in a month, they could put up suggestions and objections. “We have finished measurement and issuing of notices for Pur, Chaudharwadi, Gosasi, Retawadi, Warude, Wafgaon and Pabal. It should take us three months to finalise the rehabilitation package for these villages,” he said. Discussions for the package would be conducted with the district collector and the villagers after the period of notice is over.
Although the package would remain the same, there would be discussions regarding the cash component, he said. He was not willing to comment whether it would remain Rs 17 lakh per hectare as was given for the four villages.
Now termed ‘ideal package”, the original package involved the farmer getting a cash component of Rs 17 lakh per hectare as well as additional sops such as guaranteed employment to one person from every project-affected family and a buyback option for farmers up to 15 per cent of the developed land after paying the original cost of the land plus an additional 50 per cent. MIDC has nearly completed disbursing the cash package of Rs 213 crore to Nimgaon, Kanersar, Dhawadi and Kendur villages. “Up to 95 per cent disbursement is completed. Few cases remain because of some legal problems,” said Patil.
The package also involved the project-affected getting 375 sq feet of built-up area in a new housing colony with Rs 10,000 being given for shifting their house. Landless labourers too were taken into consideration with Rs 65 per person/per family being given for 600 days.
http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/SEZ-After-4-villages-get-Rs-213-cr-its-turn-of-7-more/412131/
PAK ACTION AGAINST TERROR AN EYEWASH: INDIA
Terming Pakistan's action against terrorism as an "eyewash", India on Monday said the civilian government there was "not strong enough" to act against terror on its own.
"What they are doing right now is not enough. It looks like an eyewash. I think the civilian power centre in Pakistan is not strong enough to act on its own. We are not confident and happy over the steps taken so far," Union Minister of State for Defence M M Pallam Raju told reporters during his visit to annual NCC Republic Day parade camp.
Raju did not agree that Pakistan was cracking under international pressure on India's demand for taking action against the perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks saying, "Unfortunately in Pakistan, there are multiple power centres to crack down and unfortunately the civilian government is not one of the more powerful centres."
He said the civilian government will have to convince other power centres to act against terrorists there.
"It (civilian government) has to act fast and convince other power structures to act against terror as both countries are suffering because of terrorism," Raju said.
He said if Pakistan did not do enough, India will have to take actions on its own.
On the action taken till now by the Government, Raju said, "As a responsible nation, we are building enough international pressure to force Pakistan to act otherwise we will have to take measures to defend ourselves."
Britain to shut doors to foreign workers
London Britain is planning to ban advertising jobs overseas due to economic meltdown, a process which could hit Indian professionals aspiring for employment opportunities in UK.
The government is mulling an idea to ensure that existing jobs go to British workers. The employers are being forced to notify vacancies in employment agencies within Britain to prioritise local candidates.
Indians are among the largest foreign professionals working in Britain.
Every day, thousands of jobs are being cut across the sectors in Britain. Official figures suggest that unemployment figures is reaching the 2 million mark, for the first time since the mid-1990s.
Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, has announced plans to force thousands of nursing, primary teaching, hotel management and other "skilled migrant" jobs to be advertised in employment agencies such as Jobcentre Plus.
Smith said "When it comes to immigration, in difficult economic times, I believe we need a tough system that offers British workers the first crack of the whip for jobs here."
Companies that break the new rules could have their licence to employ non-European Union migrants revoked.
Officials believe that the change will curb the number of migrants coming to Britain, because they will not be able to obtain a work visa without having a specific job offer.
Official figures show that immigrants have taken four out of every five new jobs in Britain since 1997. The Office for National Statistics says that there are currently 5,62,000 unfilled vacancies in the British economy.
If Anita flew, must be to Gulf
- Mumbai witness version ‘not implausible’ but US trip unlikely: Official
K.P. NAYAR
A helicopter hovers over Marine Drive during the Mumbai Marathon on Sunday. (Fotocorp)
Washington, Jan. 18: Anita Uddaiya, who witnessed the terrorist landing in Mumbai in November, is unlikely to have been taken to the US for questioning, according to an intelligence source here familiar with such operations by American agencies.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity so as to be able to discuss the issue freely, said it was more likely that she was taken to a Gulf state, if her accounts of being abducted and flown out of Mumbai were, indeed, true.
The source, which discussed the case at length with The Telegraph here during the weekend, revealed that every facility of every kind that American intelligence agencies have at their headquarters in the US has now been replicated in the Gulf states for dealing with terrorist suspects, Iraqi insurgents and others sought by the US from elsewhere in West Asia, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The Gulf states eat out of American hands, co-operating in everything the US intelligence asks for, the official added.
The official dismissed with ill-concealed contempt, denials by the US embassy in New Delhi to sections of the Indian media that Uddaiya was not flown to the US or that the US government was not involved in any effort to exclusively question her.
The reality is that even if Uddaiya’s version of events is true, nobody in the US embassy in New Delhi who is authorised to talk to the media would be told about any such operation.
If it did take place, the official said, it is most likely that even the ambassador, David Mulford, would not know about it. That is not the way the CIA conducts sensitive operations, the official contented.
Throughout the conversation, the intelligence source claimed not to have any personal knowledge of American contacts with Uddaiya, but pointed out that an operation of the kind she described would be known to very few people in the US government.
“Her version events is not implausible. But something like that would require clearance by the US President, and if that is not sought, definitely a nod from the White House chief of staff,” the official insisted.
“The consequences of something going wrong can be serious. Usually, the state department is kept in the dark because historically the CIA does not trust career diplomats and consider them to be namby pambies with no stomach for tough action.”
The source pointed out that being transition time, any US agency plotting such an operation, if at all, would have been doubly mindful of the consequences and clearances. “You do a disservice to your cause if the new administration has to start on a wrong wicket with a friendly country because of a botched covert operation.”
Questioned persistently on Uddaiya’s accounts about her flight, the source said doubts about her being flown to the US were based on America’s extreme reluctance to land abducted or detained foreigners on its soil for fear of litigation at any later stage.
US laws are so complex and the propensity for litigation on such issues is so common that intelligence agencies prefer to question people on foreign soil.
It was pointed out that the whole rationale for setting up the prison camp in Guantanamo was the desire of the Bush administration not to get entangled in the US judicial system. “But even so, the administration had to spend so much time and resources in courts, fighting to keep people in Guantanamo.”
The official had a sanguine view of US approach to terrorism today. “Look, five years ago, everybody in Washington would have jumped at the thought of getting their hands on someone who had seen terrorists actually land somewhere. Now people are more calm, more rational. Would someone today take the trouble and incur the expense of sending a Hercules transport plane to fly an Anita Uddaiya all the way to the US and back? Unlikely. That is why the idea of flying her to the Gulf, if at all, is more plausible.”
In any dust-up in India over Uddaiya’s claims, the intelligence source cautioned against losing sight of the fact that she is not a terrorist suspect. “She is only a witness. Her use for any US interrogators is a world apart from that of questioning a terrorist suspect.” The hint obviously was that it was in a good cause.
On grounds of professional confidentiality, the source declined to go into details of what possibly could have been done with her material answers, but others said it would be valuable in electronic profiling of terrorists if Uddaiya was questioned in a specially equipped environment.
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090119/jsp/frontpage/story_10409719.jsp
Satyam funds diverted: Govt
‘Tougher penalties for economic crimes’
Press Trust of India
NEW DELHI/HYDERABAD, Jan. 18: The government today said prima facie there appeared to be “diversion” of funds from scam-tainted Satyam where the facts and figures in the balance sheet are not based on correct information.
“Prima facie aisa lagta hai ki diversion of funds ka kuch issue hai, jo facts and figures balance sheet mein show kiye gaye hai, they are not based on the correct information... galat kaam toh bahut hua hai,” Union corporate affairs minister Mr Prem Chand Gupta told PTI on how serious the Satyam crisis was.
Asked if there was a need to hand over the Satyam case to CBI in the face of reports of involvement of politicians with the company's founder Mr B Ramalinga Raju, he said, “As of now no such thing has surfaced... whatever is needed will be done... the government has ordered inspection of eight companies (Satyam subsidiaries)... investigation by SFIO has also been ordered”.
On a query if the government feared a major land scam in Satyam's Maytas fiasco, the minister said he was not in a position to make any political statement on the issue. He also declined to comment on the lawsuits filed in US courts against the company after it aborted a Rs. 8,000-crore deal to acquire two Maytas firms promoted by the family of Mr Raju and his subsequent confession of cooking of accounts, saying it would not be proper for him to talk on the subject.
On a related query, Mr Gupta said members of the newly-constituted board would not be held responsible for what was done by the previous board which was disbanded by the government after the Rs 7,800-crore scam came to light. “The government had advised the new board to engage a legal firm for it and take legal opinions and all necessary steps in this direction,” he said.
He said there were two issues in handling the Satyam crisis ~ the first being the company's operations and the second relates to the regulatory system and investigation.
On the operations front, Satyam is a good company with a big brand name and an impressive list of clients. Apart from that, the company also has trained manpower and assets along with receivables of Rs 1,700 crore, the minister said, adding that if the company's operations are disturbed then many stakeholders would face major loss.
“That is why, personally I feel that the operations of Satyam should be a different affair than the regulatory and investigation issue,” he said, stressing that inspection and investigation in the company should be carried on separately without disturbing the operations of the company.
Dubbing the Satyam fraud as an “aberration”, Mr Gupta said the government would do everything to make corporates more accountable. Those who are guilty of financial wrongdoing would not be let off just on the payment of some fine, he said.
“We are making stiff provisions under the new Companies Bill, 2008. The number of crimes for which provisions of compounding are available under the present Act are being significantly reduced,” Mr Gupta said.
The penalties for the economic crimes will be increased commensurate with the gravity of offence. Even the monetary penalty and other provisions are being made many time more stringent, he said.
Mr Gupta shared the concerns of independent directors in the face of corporate frauds like Satyam and favoured immunity to such members in the board provided they were not party to “wrong decisions”.
Meanwhile, ending speculation that Maytas contracts may be terminated, the Andhra Pradesh government announced it was neither going to cancel the projects awarded to Maytas Infra in haste nor going to order a probe into projects won by the firm.
Rajus in CID custody
HYDERABAD, Jan. 18: Former chairman of Satyam Computers Mr B Ramalinga Raju, his brother and ex-MD Mr Rama Raju and former CFO Mr V Srinivas were taken into custody from Chanchalguda Jail by Andhra Pradesh police here today. A local court had yesterday granted permission to the CID, investigating the Satyam fraud, to take the trio into custody for four days for interrogation. A five-member CID team, led by investigation officer Mr N Balaji Rao, took custody of the accused around 11.45 a.m. amidst tight security. The three were taken to the CID's office at AC Guards here for further interrogation. The Raju brothers were in judicial custody since 10 January while Mr Srinivas was in judicial remand after his arrest on 10 January. n PTI
Google to cut 100 recruiter jobs
Reuters
Posted: Jan 15, 2009 at 0938 hrs IST
San Francisco Google said on Wednesday it was laying off 100 full-time recruiters, the latest sign that the economic recession has not spared one of the technology industry's strongest companies.
In a post on the official Google blog, Laszlo Bock, Google's vice president of people operations, said the Mountain View, California-based company now needs fewer people focused on hiring.
Bock said Google had started by terminating contracts with external recruiters, but the worsening economy had necessitated the laying off of full-time workers.
The 100 positions represent less than one-quarter of Google's total in-house recruiters, spokesman Matthew Furman said.
The job cuts come after a series of other cost-cutting moves by Google.
Known for its extravagant holiday parties, Google decided to scale back on end-2008 celebrations, a source said earlier.
It had earlier cut a number of contract worker jobs, and pulled back some benefits for employees in its New York office cafeteria, in moves designed to save money.
In a separate blog post, Google's senior vice president of engineering and research Alan Eustace said the company was also shutting offices in Austin, Texas; Trondheim, Norway; and Lulea, Sweden, and asking about 70 engineers employed at these sites to move to other offices or leave.
Google shut its Phoenix, Arizona office in September and relocated most of its engineers to other offices, Eustace said.
Shares in the search engine giant closed down $13.35, or 4.3 per cent, to end the day's trading on the Nasdaq at $300.97 or at less than half of its 52-week high of $657.40 on Jan 14, 2008.
2 Bengal madrasas turn a chapter, more Hindus than Muslims on rolls
Shiv Sahay Singh
Posted: Jan 19, 2009 at 0945 hrs IST
Kolkata Madrasas across the country may be under the scanner for imparting Islamic fundamentalist teachings and accused of being factories of narrow orthodoxy, but in West Bengal, there are at least two where Hindu students outnumber Muslims.
Located about 110 km from Kolkata, the Orgram Chatuspalli High Madrasa in Burdwan district and Kasba MM High Madrasa in Uttar Dinajpur district are known for their academic excellence and secular credentials. While at Orgram, 64 per cent — 555 of the 883 students — are Hindus, at Kasba, 647 of 1,069 students, or 60 per cent, are Hindus.
“It is not that lack of school facilities has forced the Hindu students in the village to fall back on the madrasa,” says Md Younus Ali Baidya, a teacher at Orgram. The Orgram High School, which is Bengali-medium, up to Class XII and affiliated to the West Bengal State Board, is in fact just a stone’s throw away. “It is the secular ambience and excellent standard of teaching which draw students,” he says. Students leaving the madrasa have a degree equal to higher secondary status.
Even teachers at the madrasa come from both the communities. Of the 11 teachers at the Orgram madrasa, six teachers are Hindus and five Muslim.
Most of the students belong to families of agricultural labourers or daily wage earners. The guardians, who themselves lack formal education, have no hesitation in sending their wards to these institutes or having them study Arabic or Islamic Studies. These two subjects are compulsory in senior classes in madrasas and students have to appear for them in their Class X exam under the West Bengal Board of Madrasa Education.
Kanika Roy, studying in Class X, is one of the best students in Arabic at the Orgram Chatuspalli Madrasa. She can recite “suras” from the Quran and read Arabic as well as her Muslim friends. She also knows the biographies of Islamic saints and one of her favourites is Begum Rokeya, a Muslim social reformer from Bengal.
At the madrasa, students in lower classes get books free of cost while all girl students are given school uniforms in each session.
“What will the children do studying only religious scripts? Instead, we lay more emphasis on teaching science and mathematics,” says Headmaster Anwar Hussain.
The madrasa started in a thatched hut in 1975 on land donated by locals. It was affiliated to the West Bengal Board of Madrasa Education in 1980, and in 2005 was granted the status of a High madrasa.
“When I got a job in the madrasa, I was a little hesitant. But working here I realised how different this place is, a very secular institution,” says Suprabhat De, a senior teacher at the madrasa.
According to the Headmaster of Kasba MM High Madrasa, Md Gulam Mustafa, the institution since its inception in 1980 has drawn students from all segments. “Guardians from the locality prefer putting their wards in the madrasa becaue of its academic excellence. The students are also open to Arabic language and Islamic Studies,” he says.
Like at Orgram, in Dinajpur too, there is a government higher secondary school, Hemtabad, about a kilometre from the Kasba madrasa. However, parents prefer the madrasa. Out of the 11 teachers, three are Hindus.
“We have students who pull rickshaws to earn their livelihood. We keep in constant touch with the parents and guardians and hold regular meetings to help them with books so that they do not drop out,” says the headmaster.
West Bengal Minister for Minority Development and Madrasa Education Abduss Sattar says the two institutes only highlight the broadbased nature of all madrasas in the state. “As per the figures, about 15 per cent students and 12 per cent teachers in madrasas across the state are Hindus,” he says.
And it’s not just in their composition that Orgram and Kasba madrasas are like any other good school. The uniform is fixed, for both girls and boys, and they begin their day hailing the motherland in Bengali and singing the national anthem.
http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/2-Bengal-madrasas-turn-a-chapter-more-Hindus-than-Muslims-on-rolls/412421/
Back to What Obama Must Do
A Letter to the new president. What Obama must do.
http://www.truthout.org:80/011709Z
Dear Mr. President:
Like FDR three-quarters of a century ago, you're taking charge at
a moment when all the old certainties have vanished, all the
conventional wisdom been proved wrong. We're not living in a world
you
or anyone else expected to see. Many presidents have to deal with
crises, but very few have been forced to deal from Day One with a
crisis on the scale America now faces.
So, what should you do?
In this letter I won't try to offer advice about everything. For
the most part I'll stick to economics, or matters that bear on
economics. I'll also focus on things I think you can or should
achieve
in your first year in office. The extent to which your administration
succeeds or fails will depend, to a large extent, on what happens in
the first year - and above all, on whether you manage to get a grip
on
the current economic crisis.
The Economic Crisis
How bad is the economic outlook? Worse than almost anyone
imagined.
The economic growth of the Bush years, such as it was, was fueled
by an explosion of private debt; now credit markets are in disarray,
businesses and consumers are pulling back and the economy is in free-
fall. What we're facing, in essence, is a yawning job gap. The U.S.
economy needs to add more than a million jobs a year just to keep up
with a growing population. Even before the crisis, job growth under
Bush averaged only 800,000 a year - and over the past year, instead
of
gaining a million-plus jobs, we lost 2 million. Today we're
continuing
to lose jobs at the rate of a half million a month.
There's nothing in either the data or the underlying situation to
suggest that the plunge in employment will slow anytime soon, which
means that by late this year we could be 10 million or more jobs
short
of where we should be. This, in turn, would mean an unemployment rate
of more than nine percent. Add in those who aren't counted in the
standard rate because they've given up looking for work, plus those
forced to take part-time jobs when they want to work full-time, and
we're probably looking at a real-world unemployment rate of around 15
percent - more than 20 million Americans frustrated in their efforts
to find work.
The human cost of a slump that severe would be enormous. The
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a nonpartisan research group
that analyzes government programs, recently estimated the effects of
a
rise in the unemployment rate to nine percent - a worst-case scenario
that now seems all too likely. So what will happen if unemployment
rises to nine percent or more? As many as 10 million middle-class
Americans would be pushed into poverty, and another 6 million would
be
pushed into "deep poverty," the severe deprivation that happens when
your income is less than half the poverty level. Many of the
Americans
losing their jobs would lose their health insurance too, worsening
the
already grim state of U.S. health care and crowding emergency rooms
with those who have nowhere else to go. Meanwhile, millions more
Americans would lose their homes. State and local governments,
deprived of much of their revenue, would have to cut back on even the
most essential services.
If things continue on their current trajectory, Mr. President, we
will soon be facing a great national catastrophe. And it's your job -
a job no other president has had to do since World War II - to head
off that catastrophe.
Wait a second, you may say. Didn't other presidents also face
troubled economies? Yes, they did - but when it came to economic
policy, your predecessors weren't actually running the show. For the
past half century the Federal Reserve - a more or less independent
institution, run by technocrats and deliberately designed to be
independent of whoever happens to occupy the White House - has been
taking care of day-to-day, and even year-to-year, economic
management.
Your fellow presidents were just along for the ride.
Remember the economic boom of 1984, which let Ronald Reagan run
on
the slogan "It's morning again in America"? Well, Reagan had
absolutely nothing to do with that boom. It was, instead, the work of
Paul Volcker, whom Jimmy Carter appointed as chairman of the Federal
Reserve Board in 1979 (and who's now the head of your economic
advisory panel). First Volcker broke the back of inflation, at the
cost of a recession that probably doomed Carter's re-election chances
in 1980. Then Volcker engineered an economic bounce-back. In effect,
Reagan dressed up in a flight suit and pretended to be a hotshot
economic pilot, but Volcker was the guy who actually flew the plane
and landed it safely.
You, on the other hand, have to pull this plane out of its nose
dive yourself, because the Fed has lost its mojo.
Compare the situation right now with the one back in the 1980s,
when Volcker turned the economy around. All the Fed had to do back
then was print a bunch of dollars (OK, it actually credited the money
to the accounts of private banks, but it amounts to the same thing)
and then use those dollars to buy up U.S. government debt. This drove
interest rates down: When Volcker decided that the economy needed a
pick-me-up, he was quickly able to drive the interest rate on
Treasury
bills from 13 percent down to eight percent. Lower interest rates on
government debt, in turn, quickly drove down rates on mortgages and
business borrowing. People started spending again, and within a few
months the economy had gone from slump to boom. Economists call this
process - from the Fed's decision to print more money to the
resulting
pickup in spending, jobs and incomes - the "monetary transmission
mechanism." And in the 1980s that mechanism worked just fine.
This time, however, the transmission mechanism is broken.
First of all, while the Fed can still print money, it can't drive
interest rates down. Why? Because those interest rates are already
about as low as they can go. As I write this letter, the interest
rate
on Treasury bills is 0.005 percent - that is, zero. And you can't
push
rates lower than that. Now, you might think that zero interest rates
would lead to an orgy of borrowing. But while the U.S. government can
borrow money for free, the rest of us can't. Fear rules the financial
markets, so over the past year and a half, as the interest rates on
government debt have plunged, the interest rates that Main Street has
to pay have mostly gone up. In particular, many businesses are paying
much higher interest rates now than they were a year and a half ago,
before the Fed started cutting. And they're lucky compared to the
many
businesses that can't get credit at all.
Besides, even if more people could borrow, would they really want
to spend? There's a glut of unsold homes on the market, so there's
very little incentive to build more houses, no matter how low
mortgage
rates go. The same goes for business investment: With office
buildings
standing empty, shopping malls begging for tenants and factories
sitting idle, who wants to spend on new capacity? And with workers
everywhere worried about job security, people trying to save a few
dollars may stampede into stores that offer deep discounts, but not
many people want to buy the big-ticket items, like cars, that
normally
fuel an economic recovery.
So as I said, the Fed has lost its mojo. Ben Bernanke and his
colleagues are trying everything they can think of to unfreeze the
credit markets - the alphabet soup of new "lending facilities," with
acronyms nobody can remember, is growing by the hour. Any day now,
the
joke goes, everyone will have a Visa card bearing the Fed logo. But
at
best, all this activity only serves to limit the damage. There's no
realistic prospect that the Fed can pull the economy out of its nose
dive.
So it's up to you.
Rescuing the Economy
The last president to face a similar mess was Franklin Delano
Roosevelt, and you can learn a lot from his example. That doesn't
mean, however, that you should do everything FDR did. On the
contrary,
you have to take care to emulate his successes, but avoid repeating
his mistakes.
About those successes: The way FDR dealt with his own era's
financial mess offers a very good model. Then, as now, the government
had to deploy taxpayer money in order to rescue the financial system.
In particular, the Reconstruction Finance Corporation initially
played
a role similar to that of the Bush administration's Troubled Assets
Relief Program (the $700 billion program everyone knows about). Like
the TARP, the RFC bulked up the cash position of troubled banks by
using public funds to buy up stock in those banks.
There was, however, a big difference between FDR's approach to
taxpayer-subsidized financial rescue and that of the Bush
administration: Namely, FDR wasn't shy about demanding that the
public's money be used to serve the public good. By 1935 the U.S.
government owned about a third of the banking system, and the
Roosevelt administration used that ownership stake to insist that
banks actually help the economy, pressuring them to lend out the
money
they were getting from Washington. Beyond that, the New Deal went out
and lent a lot of money directly to businesses, to home buyers and to
people who already owned homes, helping them restructure their
mortgages so they could stay in their houses.
Can you do anything like that today? Yes, you can. The Bush
administration may have refused to attach any strings to the aid it
has provided to financial firms, but you can change all that. If
banks
need federal funds to survive, provide them - but demand that the
banks do their part by lending those funds out to the rest of the
economy. Provide more help to homeowners. Use Fannie Mae and Freddie
Mac, the home-lending agencies, to pass the government's low
borrowing
costs on to qualified home buyers. (Fannie and Freddie were seized by
federal regulators in September, but the Bush administration,
bizarrely, has kept their borrowing costs high by refusing to declare
that their bonds are backed by the full faith and credit of the
taxpayer.)
Conservatives will accuse you of nationalizing the financial
system, and some will call you a Marxist. (It happens to me all the
time.) And the truth is that you will, in a way, be engaging in
temporary nationalization. But that's OK: In the long run we don't
want the government running financial institutions, but for now we
need to do whatever it takes to get credit flowing again.
All of this will help - but not enough. By all means you should
try to fix the problems of banks and other financial institutions.
But
to pull the economy out of its slide, you need to go beyond funneling
money to banks and other financial institutions. You need to give the
real economy of work and wages a boost. In other words, you have to
get job creation right - which FDR never did.
This may sound like a strange thing to say. After all, what we
remember from the 1930s is the Works Progress Administration, which
at
its peak employed millions of Americans building roads, schools and
dams. But the New Deal's job-creation programs, while they certainly
helped, were neither big enough nor sustained enough to end the Great
Depression. When the economy is deeply depressed, you have to put
normal concerns about budget deficits aside; FDR never managed to do
that. As a result, he was too cautious: The boost he gave the economy
between 1933 and 1936 was enough to get unemployment down, but not
back to pre-Depression levels. And in 1937 he let the deficit
worriers
get to him: Even though the economy was still weak, he let himself be
talked into slashing spending while raising taxes
INDIA’S FOREIGN POLICIES ON PAKISTAN REACH A DEAD-END
By Dr. Subhash Kapila
Introductory Observations
India’s foreign policies on Pakistan have been brought to a dead-end with the dawn of the year 2009. Painfully, it needed the Mumbai 9/11 murderous massacres on November 26, 2008 by Pakistani Special Forces trained Islamic Jihadi commando terrorists to bring home the realization to India’s political leaders and the policy establishment that India’s policies and formulations on Pakistan have been an utter failure.
India’s foreign policies on Pakistan, and more specifically in the first decade of the 21st Century, stand failed because Pakistan as a state in fractional asymmetry to India, strategically and politically, existing on borrowed and reflected strengths of the United States and China has forced India to run out of decisive options in the post-Mumbai 9/11 phase.
India’s foreign policies on Pakistan have failed in the lost 63 years because India submitting itself to external pressures and shirking from the use of her preponderant strengths over Pakistan, fostered a perception in the Pakistani military establishment that India could be trifled with impunity and without punitive reprisals.
Pakistan as a “garrison state” run by a military adventurist Pakistan Army required an Indian foreign policy based on Indian national security determinants only, without conceding strategic space to the national interests of the intrusive external powers in South Asia.
Strangely, in the last fifteen years, India’s political leaders and its foreign policy establishment failed to translate India’s growing global economic clout into political and strategic muscle to attain its foreign policy objectives of neutralizing Pakistan and its state- sponsored terrorism against India in the name of Islamic Jihad.
The measure of India’s failure in its Pakistan policies has been brought home by the signal change in tunes within a month, of the United States ad Britain from siding with India, to the defense of Pakistan and its instruments of state not being involved in Mumbai 9/11. Where did they get evidence of this? Or is this only a surmise?
India’s foreign policies on Pakistan have reached a dead-end not only because of India’s own policy flaws and systemic failures but also more significantly because the United States as Pakistan’s vital strategic patron has time and again forgiven Pakistan’s strategically destablizing policies against India. In this process Pakistan stood further emboldened, conscious that Pakistan would not be disciplined by the United States.
India’s foreign policies on Pakistan have reached a dead-end and a policy audit is required in addition to looking into the immediate future, as to where should India now go from here.
This is covered under the following heads in brief outline:
India’s Political Leadership: Faulty Political and Strategic Perceptions on Pakistan
India’s Foreign Policy Establishment: Rudderless Policy Formulations on Pakistan
United States Needs to be De-hyphenated from India’s Pakistan Policies
The Way Ahead: Immediate Indian Imperatives of Hard-Line Declaratory Policies towards Pakistan
India’s Political Leadership: Faulty Political and Strategic Perceptions on Pakistan
The Indian political leadership, irrespective of political affiliations, has successively failed in providing a realistic political template of assessments on Pakistan, on which the Indian foreign policy establishment and the Indian military establishment could base their operational strategies on.
The Indian political leadership’s failure, strictly in the political sense, arises from:
Perceptional failings in their readings of Pakistan’s political dynamics, Pakistani political leaders, and the propensities of the Pakistan Army. Historical patterns are neither studied nor paid attention to in their assessments, if any.
Indian political leaders failing to perceive that, 60 years of India’s peaceful and conciliatory policies towards Pakistan, restraint against grave provocations and Track II diplomacy has not yielded any success to India in the evolution of a peaceful India-Pakistan relationship.
Political leadership not indulging in independent analysis of Pakistani events but totally dependant on estimates of party think-tanks comprising retired senior diplomats, intelligence officials and military officers, most of whom try to ‘situate’ their assessments to be in line with their political patrons’ views or being out of touch with contemporary realities
Indian political leaders have failed to strike personal links with political leaders of major countries which could facilitate informal and non-institutional exchange of political perceptions and also as an alternative to pressurize Pakistan. Indian political leaders have denied themselves vital inputs by:
Remaining strategically ill-equipped by not spending time on frequent briefings and brain-storming with India’s uniformed fraternity but relying on bureaucratic inputs.
Not facilitating the growth of an independent Indian strategic culture.
Not giving primacy to India’s national security determinants over political expediency in Pakistan policy formulations.
Strategic fears in the Indian political leadership and their policy advisors that should India undertake military strikes against Pakistan, there would be forceful retaliation by Pakistan. Of course there would be Pakistani retaliation and expectedly so. Should that deter India as an emerging power to stop using the prerogatives of its power and buckle down against Pakistani “War of Terror” against India.
Cumulatively arising from the above, in relation to Pakistan, India’s political leadership was led to the following strategic blunders:
Shastri agreeing to return the Haji Pir Bulge & Kargil Heights after India’s victory over Pakistan in 1965 war.
Indira Gandhi agreeing to return 90,000 Pakistan prisoners of war captured by Indian Army in 1971 without written guarantees from Bhutto on Kashmir and relying on his verbal assurances.
Rajiv Gandhi very nearly agreed to a compromise on Siachen with Benazir Bhutto.
Vajpayee policy blunders of convening Agra Summit and not pushing PRAKARM to its logical conclusion.
Dr. Manmohan Singh, the present Indian Prime Minister, has more strategic blunders to account for in relation to Pakistan, namely:
Implicitly trusting Musharraf under US nudging
Siachen was virtually sold out.
India’s Pakistan policy was totally subordinated to United States policies, perceptions and strategic interests in Pakistan.
Signing the infamous Havana Declaration with Musharraf and setting up a Joint Terror Mechanism – a virtual “Dance with the Wolves”.
Following it, major terrorist strikes against India from Pakistan kept taking place without any reprisals from India.
Policy paralysis in not exercising the hard option against Pakistan post-Mumbai 9/11.
India’s Foreign Policy Establishment: Rudderless Policy Formulations on Pakistan
As a spin-off of the above and without institutional assertiveness by India’s diplomatic establishment, India’s foreign policy on Pakistan growingly stood encroached by the Prime Minister’s Office. The resultant outcome has been as what can be described as rudderless policy formulations on Pakistan, divorced from institutional strategic vision, deliberation and analysis.
This stood further compounded by the following factors:
India’s High Commissioners in Pakistan, with few exceptions, focused more on being “cultural ambassadors” rather than the diplomatic representatives of South Asia’s only regional power and consequently indulging in hard-headed diplomacy.
Reliance on “Special Envoys” system of the Prime Minister which distorted policy formulations. Nor did any substantial diplomatic gains accrued from the system of “Special Envoys”.
Unjustified confidence in Track II diplomacy with Pakistan. It has not produced any results.
Indian Foreign Office’s propensity lately to take cues from Washington on Indian foreign policy formulations on Pakistan and reliance on US assessments of Pakistan’s political and military establishment.
India’s diplomatic establishments inability in the last 63 years to come up with policies which could provide “Indian leverages on Pakistan”. India today has no independent political, military, economic or multi-lateral leverages over Pakistan.
The lowest ebb in India’s foreign policy establishment role lately was in the following:
Incessant helpless refrain that India will do business with whosoever was in power in Pakistan. Did that presage dealing with the Taliban also?
The Prime Minister not being dissuaded from signing the Havana Agreement with Musharraf and thereby devaluating and neutralizing India’s stands and credibility on Pakistan’s proxy war and state-sponsored terrorism. Mumbai 9/11 can be in a sense said to have been the out come of this mis-step.
Not prevailing on the political leadership to go in for the hard-option post-Mumbai 9/11.
India’s foreign office and its diplomatic establishment must realize that they are as much “custodians of India’s national security” as are the armed forces, and in this custodial responsibility they should not allow the politicians (who come and go and are influenced by domestic political considerations) to play around with India’s security due to perceptive failures or ignorance of strategic realities.
United States Needs to be De-hyphenated from India’s Pakistan Policies Formulations
United States involvement in the shaping of India’s Pakistan-policies formulations would have been a welcome step had the United States played the rule of an “honest broker” in South Asia. The record has been otherwise, even with President Bush who has been the best US President that India could have so far.
United States actions and role in post-Mumbai 9/11 fall into the above category. It does not inspire confidence in India. After supporting India’s demands initially on Pakistan in relation to a Mumbai 9/11 they have down-slided to support Pakistan’s adamancy
As far back as December 2002, the observations made by this Author in his Paper: “ India’s Foreign Policy Predicaments” (SAAG Paper 570 dated 24.12.2002) need to be highlighted once again in the present context:
“US policies and actions post-9/11 belies the earlier stated and mutual high expectations of a “natural allies” relationship.”
If it were truly so, then the combination of 9/11 and 13/12 would have spurred the United States to recognize, respect and integrate the Islamic Jehadi threats against India with the overall American operations against global terrorism (read Islamic Jehadi terrorism)”
“More inexplicable has been the US shielding of Pakistan from Indian military wrath post 13/12. It virtually amounted to a Papal condonation of Pakistan’s mortal sins”.
“India therefore needs to develop a more conditional foreign policy relationship with USA.”
“India’s foreign policy responses to the United States must depend on the American respect for India in the context of its South Asian policies. India is in a position to lay down bench-marks, this strength should emanate from her strategic potential in South Asia and the Indian Ocean Region.”
History seems to be repeating itself once again. Instead of Pakistan being subjected to punitive approaches by the United States for its role in Mumbai 9/11, the United States is pressurizing India to exercise restraint. On the contrary moves are afoot once again to use the Kashmir issue as a leverage against India and in favor of Pakistan and further US military supplies to Pakistan continue.
Just as the United States claims it has de-hyphenated its India-Pakistan relationships, India must realize that in terms of her national security interests, India has to “de-hyphenate” the United States-Pakistan relationship” in its foreign policies on Pakistan.
The Way Ahead: Immediate Indian Imperatives of Hard-Line Declaratory Policies Towards Pakistan
The following recommendations were made by the Author in the above quoted Paper in December 2002 in terms of India’s declaratory policy assertions.
“Kashmir is non-negotiable and all external powers need to lay-off this issue.”
“India’s dominance model may be an anathema for Pakistan but that country has to adjust and adapt to this strategic reality. India’s foreign policy initiatives must emphasize to external powers to respect this reality and prevail over their protégé Pakistan, to recognize it.”
“India must declare that any threats to its external or internal security will be met with disproportionate force if necessary.”
“No external pressures will be accepted by India to deflect it from its pursuance of just war or preemptive strikes to deter aggression against India.”
These assertions would eater to the neutralization of Pakistan’s main strategies against India in terms of Kashmir, proxy war and terrorism. They as declaratory policies would lay down ‘red lines’ for Pakistan.
Six years down the line, Indian political leadership nor its policy establishment has made any such assertions due to obliviousness to national security imperatives or having no time from political chicanery pre-occupations or lacking the sheer will to make forceful declarations..
Post-Mumbai 9/11, India has already fore-closed its military strike options in reprisals against Pakistan, and all that it has left now is to indulge in the non-military options to pressurize Pakistan.
The following non-military options, if implemented immediately could be perceived as hard-line options to foreclose any further state-sponsored terrorism from Pakistan in the wake of Mumbai 9/11.
Break diplomatic relations with Pakistan.
Abrogate the Havana Agreement
Declare Pakistan as a “terrorist state” and the ISI as a “terrorist organization.”
Snap all CBM’s implemented on Kashmir from cross-border travel to trade etc.
Review Indus Waters Treaty and stop flow of river waters to Pakistan
Snap all Pak transit overflights
Stop train and air services to Pakistan.
Peace Process and Composite Dialogue to be called off..
Black-list all countries selling defense equipment to Pakistan and not invite them to tender for Indian military purchases.
Resume ‘covert operations’ against Pakistan with focus on Pakistan’s military establishment and terrorist organization.
India should give political, moral and material support to the “freedom fighters” in Baluchistan, Northern Areas and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
Isolate Pakistan in South Asia by disbanding SAARC and focus on alternative regional organizations excluding Pakistan.
Psychological warfare, visibly exposing Pakistan Army’s and ISI disruptive activities in neighbouring countries. “Radio Free Pakistan” and TV channels be established. The emphasis in this campaign should be that India and Indians are not against the Pakistani people and that India is definitely against the Pakistan Army establishment, the ISI and their affiliated terrorist organisations indulging in unrestrained “War of Terror” against India, Afghanistan and in Pakistan’s frontier areas.
Establish a maritime ‘cordon sanitairre’ in the North Arabian Sea excluding all trade by dhows and fishing trawlers traffic.
No tourists from Pakistan or foreigners transiting through Pakistan be given entry to India.
India should not pursue the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project both in the present context and otherwise too.
In the execution of the above measures, India should not become amendable to any external pressures. Should Pakistan consequently ratchet on the above, the military confrontation along the LOC or the other borders, India should prepare itself for war.
USSR’s first Foreign Minister, Leon Trotsky was recently quoted by noted Indian journalist M J Abbar, in another context as: “You may not be interested in war, but war is interested in you.”
India’s political leaders should be mindful of this maxim as war is a recurrent reality in global affairs and cannot be wished away.
Concluding Observations
India’s peaceful and conciliatory approaches to Pakistan and traditional exercise of restraint despite grave provocations by Pakistan in the last 63 years have been misread by Pakistan as responses from a timid state devoid of political will for hard responses. It seems to be convinced that Indian political leaders lack the courage to come up with firm responses.
The dead-end reached by India in its foreign policies towards Pakistan is a by-product of the above. India can only by-pass this dead-end by hard-line policies if not hard strike reprisals for Mumbai 9/11.
India’s political leaders can no longer ignore the overwhelming Indian public opinion that the time has come for India to deal with Pakistan firmly.
Pakistan cannot be saved from its ‘dysfunctional state’ downslide by India’s permissiveness of tolerating endless Pakistan-originated terrorists strikes. Nor can Pakistan be saved from military rule by Indian restraint.
Pakistan can only be saved by the people of Pakistan rising against their military establishment as did the Iranians. who overthrew the powerfully backed Shah of Iran and his Imperial Ground Forces in 1979 as a result of groundswell of public unrest.
As written elsewhere by this Author, India needs to assert itself against Pakistan boldly and fearlessly, if it believes that it has a ‘Manifest Destiny” to emerge as “the regional power” and an aspirant for global power status.
India s should not be cowed down or its leaders deterred by fears of Pakistan’s military retaliation. Of course, there would be human and material losses. But then India’s political leaders need to recognize the strategic reality that:
“Power Status does not come cheaply and nor does it come without the guts to bear losses in the pursuit of power. Power accrues only to those who are bold and audacious.”
(The author is an International Relations and Strategic Affairs analyst. He is the Consultant, Strategic Affairs with South Asia Analysis Group. Email:drsubhashkapila.007@gmail.com)
Pinaki Bhattacharya
A critical futuristic threat perception vis-à-vis India’s North Eastern region has long preoccupied many analysts and the Indian security establishment. The projected exercise would involve Pakistan launching an attack on Jammu and Kashmir. At the other end, China would engage India militarily in the latter’s Northeast with movement from Tibet, through Bhutan and via Alipurduar in the Jalpaiguri district and consequently cut-off what is referred to as the eastern chicken’s neck or the Shiliguri corridor. An Indian strategists’ nightmare come true. A possibility that was touched upon in the recently published novel by a former BBC journalist, Humphrey Hawksley, called Dragon Fire.
In such a projected war scenario, while India battles Pakistan and China, behind the lines of the security forces guarding the narrow strip of land called the Shiliguri corridor, which at its narrowest is 20 kilometres long and just 20 kilometres wide in the general area south west of Shiliguri, the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), the Bodos, the Kamtapur Liberation Organisation and other subversives trained in Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan raise attrition to a feverish pitch. China could, it is projected, choose to cut the chicken’s neck with irreversible consequences vis-à-vis India’s Northeast.
A reasonable assumption of this nature reportedly influenced a group of senior Indian security officials to meet in May 2000.1 The meeting concluded that a constant vigil needed to be maintained at the Bagdogra airport in Jalpaiguri and railway stations like New Jalpaiguri and Coochbehar, as also at Kishanganj and Katihar in the State of Bihar. Such a constant vigil was directed towards monitoring the movement of those who are rather quaintly called ANEs (anti-national elements). The meeting also resolved that a joint operation of Assam and West Bengal police needs to be launched to flush out terrorists, besides beefing up the deployment of security forces.
In case such hostilities actually broke out, one of the crucial Chinese objectives would be to capture a large amount of territory in northern Sikkim to secure a strategic hold. In tactical terms, this would translate into denying a launching pad to the Indian forces for an assault on Tibet. The other element of this thrust, it is projected, would be centred on capturing areas in Bhutan – the ones traditionally claimed by the Chinese – thus posing a direct threat to the Shiliguri Corridor, a key item on the agenda..2
The Shiliguri Corridor3 is an area of 12,203 square kilometers connecting mainland India with the outlying border States of the Northeast. An intelligence report of one of security forces operating in the area states: "As geographical configuration puts the North Eastern States of our country at a disadvantage for a lack of strategic depth, considered necessary to provide a buffer, the tenuous lines of communication (that run through this corridor) connect mainland India to the Northeast." The corridor’s dimensions extend lengthwise approximately 200 kms with a width varying between 20 and 60 kilometres. It houses the all-important feeder highways number NH 31 and 31a and the North Frontier Railways.
During the Sino-Indian war in 1962, a division-strength of troops was moved in record time from Punjab to Shiliguri in order to protect north Bengal and Sikkim from the advancing Chinese. The Chinese were pressing ahead of the Tawang sub-division of what is now known as Arunachal Pradesh, which the Indian troops had vacated. The Chinese were also found to be amassing troops across Sikkim. As Pakistan had terminated river traffic through the then East Pakistan, all supplies for Assam had to be routed through railways from Katihar in Bihar to Baminigaon via the corridor, where the Brahmaputra river needed to be crossed by ferry.
The corridor is also significant in light of the vital installations located around it, like the airfields of Hashimara and Bagdogra, and the oil pipelines, which run through the corridor. These installations are considered to be lethal sabotage targets for insurgent groups lurking behind the lines of defence.
One of the key borders that abut the corridor is with Nepal, stretching 144 kilometres on the other side of north Bengal. Being unmanned, the long stretch of the border proves immensely conducive for infiltration and also as a point of egress for ANEs originating in Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan. Furthermore, the Indo-Nepal Friendship treaty of 1950, which guarantees free and unhindered movement of Nepalese citizens between the two nations, has been handy for infiltration exercises. The absence of security forces on the Indo-Nepal border also attracts agents of the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), the external intelligence agency of Pakistan, and their co-conspirators to opt for various clandestine, or even occasionally, regular or open routes in the area. Of course, in legal terms, while the Nepalese and the Bhutanese can enter and exit at any point on the border, the other nationals are required to adopt only an authorised route, which also acts as the trade route between India and Nepal. In practice, however, there is little to prevent the ANEs from crossing over at any point, virtually of their choice.
It is only in recent times that the Indian security apparatus has become aware of the situation on the Indo-Nepal border. According to reports, the Group of Ministers that scrutinised the Madhav Godbole Committee Report on border management has recommended that the 1,751-km border be policed by the paramilitary force, the Special Service Bureau (SSB)4. According to news reports, the Godbole report critically analysed issues related to "border-fencing, safeguarding of air space, checking infiltration and smuggling activities, restructuring of para-military forces guarding the borders and adoption of modern technology as a force multiplier."5 The group, headed by the Union Home Minister, L K Advani, has also suggested that the SSB’s armed wing be brought under the command and control of the Union Home Ministry to counter smuggling and ISI activities originating in Nepal.6
According to premier intelligence agencies, the Shiliguri corridor faces threat not only from this pattern of free movement of personnel and goods through the border areas, but also from insurgents operating from Bhutan and particularly in Assam. The United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) and the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) militants have been using the corridor for their movement for a long time. The recent emergence of another insurgent outfit, called the Kamtapur Liberation Organisation (KLO),7 in north Bengal, is adding to the worries of the security forces. Intelligence reports indicate that, in 1993, certain members of the Rajbongshi community belonging to the ranks of the All Kamtapur Students’ Union (AKSU) approached ULFA cadres in the Kokrajhar district of Assam and sought arms training from them.
They were primarily directing their efforts towards organising an armed struggle for realising their demand of a separate Kamtapur State, carved out of the districts of north Bengal. Following their contact, 12 Rajbongshi youth were allowed to be trained in a training camp organised by the ULFA in Bhutan to the north of the trijunction of Bhutan-West Bengal-Assam. The training could not be completed due to a constant threat from the security forces and also because certain ULFA cadres had surrendered.
The Rajbongshi leadership, primarily the AKSU, however, continued their efforts. They contacted some members of the central leadership of ULFA, who in turn agreed to train them on the condition that they form a secessionist outfit. This led to the formation of the KLO. Members of the newly formed KLO were imparted arms training during 1996-97 in Samdrup Jhankar in Bhutan where the central headquarters of ULFA is situated.8 The KLO also established its headquarters near the ULFA HQ at Samdrup Jhankar. The ULFA’s agenda was to prop up the Rajbongshi militants for its own gains, and the West Bengal tribals were aiding the outfit to create safe havens in North Bengal.9
The trained KLO cadres, on their return from Bhutan mingled with the activists of the Kamtapur Peoples’ Party (KPP) and AKSU, and have been working with them. An estimated 100 KLO terrorists have received arms training at the Gelengphu and Kalaikhola camps in Bhutan, and reports also indicate that the ULFA and KLO had reached an agreement to launch a joint armed struggle.10 The movement for Kamtapur has thus turned violent with sporadic incidents of looting, extortion, killings and sabotage. Of late, the KLO and the ULFA have started an extortion drive targeting the local tea gardens.11 They are most active in Alipurduar in Jalpaiguri and Shiliguri sub-division of Darjeeling.
Reports indicate that a large number of KLO cadres have received arms training at the ULFA camps in neighbouring Bhutan.12 There are also reports of growing terrorist and subversive activities by the KLO in league with ULFA militants. Pakistan-trained and ISI-backed ULFA insurgents are reported to have imparted arms training to three successive batches of KLO insurgents. Of the three KLO batches, one was trained in a forest in Jalpaiguri district, while the other two were trained in Bhutan.13 The arrest of a KLO activist from Matabhanga on May 29, 2001 exposed the linkages between KLO and ULFA and the training structures in the corridor.14 Earlier, three KLO insurgents arrested from Cooch Behar on December 8, 2000, confessed to having undergone advanced arms training in the ULFA camp in the Fifshu jungles of Bhutan.15 According to official sources, they were part of a 60-strong batch of KLO and ULFA cadre, who had received advanced arms training between April 15 and July 15, 2000, at ULFA’s Nichula area command camp.16 In certain instances, KLO militants have been reported to sneak into Assam after committing violent activities in West Bengal.
The ULFA cadres are reportedly entering the plains of Bengal from the Kumargram village on the borders of Bengal, Assam and Bangladesh, to train KLO insurgents.17 ULFA cadres have been using north Bengal as a transit point to go from Bhutan to Bangladesh and vice versa, while some militants have also crossed over to Nepal through this area.18 The ULFA militants often visit north Bengal for medical attention and there are reports that ULFA cadres also use the area to transport arms and ammunition to their camps in Bhutan.19
The forests on the border of the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan with West Bengal also provide ample space for the insurgent groups to operate. The recent encounter20 between security forces and the Gorkha Liberation Organisation (GLO), a radical breakaway faction of the Subhash Ghising-led Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF), cadres in the Tinkatari jungles provides ample testimony of the preparedness of the insurgents in the area, as also their growing co-ordination with various groups, particularly with the National Socialist Council of Nagaland –Issak Muivah (NSCN-IM). The attempted assassination21 of the Gorkha leader, Subhash Ghising, while he was returning to Darjeeling after a meeting with Union Home Minister Advani is an indicator of this collusion.
The attack is widely believed to be the handiwork of Chhatre Subba, a one-time Ghising protege who has turned against the GNLF supremo for his purported betrayal of the Gorkhaland cause. One of the slain assailants was also identified as an NSCN-IM member. And the fact that the other team members were reported to have fled to Nepal is indicative of a broader conspiracy. The NSCN-IM is also allegedly training certain Gorkha and Nepali youths.22 Two NSCN-IM cadres were killed in an encounter in the Shamsingh forest in Darjeeling district on November 12, 2000.23 According to intelligence sources in Shiliguri, the NSCN-IM cadres were part of an instructors’ group that had travelled to West Bengal to impart arms and explosives handling training to the GLO.
Reports also suggest that the ISI was supplying a large quantity of arms and ammunition to the various Northeast terrorist outfits from the stockpiles of the Khmer Rouge of Cambodia after their defeat and eventual obliteration.24 These were picked up from the markets of Thailand and were transported to Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh, eventually to be used on Indian soil. The arms were shipped from Thai ports to Cox’s Bazaar and were then carried on headloads for rest of the way.25 The recipients were the NSCN-IM, ULFA and the Bodo groups.
The NSCN-IM has gradually become the primary militant outfit in the region, providing training and resources to various other groups. Recently, however, the Myanmarese authorities initiated a crackdown on the terrorist groups operating from their soil in the area. Media reports have indicated that an NSCN-Khaplang (NSCN-K) camp was attacked by Myanmarese and Indian security forces in the Konyak region of Myanmar, adjacent to Nagaland.26 Earlier, in October 2000, a botched operation of the Myanmar Army caused the death of five Assam Rifles personnel during an encounter with the Khaplang group cadres.27 Evidently, this mounting pressure has made the NSCN-K amenable to a cease-fire, which the Indian government offered recently.
Reports indicate that while there are no training camps of the ULFA and NSCN in Coochbehar and Alipurduar, there are indications that Bodo militants have their training camps in the adjoining areas at the tri-junction of these two districts with Bhutan, in the jungles of Kalikhola in that country. The security forces have arrested certain couriers transporting ration and also ascertained the frequent movement of Bodo militants along the banks of the Sankosh river near Kalikhola. Terrorist training camps in Bhutan also exist in the areas of Goberkundi, south of Udang river, Lungkhavgma, Merungphuc, Sukhini and Dinsing river. Even though these areas do not abut the Jalpaiguri district, arrested militants have confessed to having obtained training in these areas. An ULFA terrorist, Tarani Biasya, arrested in Alipurduar on February 9, 1998, had confessed to having been trained in Sukhini. These militants often transport small arms from Bangladesh to Bhutan through the Shiliguri Corridor on trucks that transport goods to and from Bangladesh, inducing the truck drivers and owners by threats and money.
Shiliguri town is a gateway to Guwahati in Assam, Gangtok in Sikkim and Kishengunj in Bihar. It also shares borders with three countries – Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal. The town’s cosmopolitan character, grown out of it being "an island of prosperity," makes it easier for outsiders to get assimilated into the local populace, thus providing perfect cover to the subversives. In fact, the West Bengal government had admitted on the floor of the State Legislative Assembly in 1999 that the Shiliguri corridor ran the risk of being sabotaged by ISI agents. This was admitted by the then Deputy Chief Minister and Minister in-charge for Home, while responding to the Opposition’s charges following a bomb blast at New Jalpaiguri Station of north Bengal on June 22, 1999. Some 10 persons, including two Indian Army personnel bound for Kargil, were killed and more than 80 persons injured in the incident.28
Security agencies are also concerned at the mushrooming growth of mosques and madrassas (religious seminaries) in the region. According to their estimate, in the last five years the total number of madrassas that have come up in the Shiliguri Corridor area are as follows: Coochbehar – 45, Jalpaiguri – 44, Shiliguri – 63 and Islampur sub-division, North 5, Dinajpur – 467. Of these only 23 in Coochbehar are recognized by the West Bengal government; eight in Jalpaiguri; two in Shiliguri and seven in Islampur. Yet, the others are flourishing with no dearth of funds. Intelligence sources suspect that people having linkages with Pakistan-based terrorist outfits have set up at least some of these mosques and madrassas.
Intelligence reports also state that the Pakistan-based Harkat-ul-Ansar (HuA) – renamed as Harkat-ul-Mujahiddeen (HuM) – and active in Jammu and Kashmir, has spread its tentacles in the region, with Nepal and northern West Bengal as their preferred ground. It is reportedly spreading Muslim fundamentalism and establishing a string of bases in the Northeast, as also in northern West Bengal. The HuA is reported to have succeeded in raising a large number of supporters in the Dangipara area of Shiliguri town, as also in adjoining areas like Naxalbari, Fulbari, etc.
According to intelligence sources, another organisation called Tabligh-e-Jamaat is also reported to be active around the Shiliguri Corridor. They hold regular meetings along Champasari and Bardhaman Road near Hawra camp in Shiliguri and are also in contact with the Harkat-ul-Ansar in Nepal. There are also indications of close linkages between the two groups, with senior members of each attending the meetings of the other. Although the activity of the organisation is discreet, it reportedly includes anti-India propaganda, ‘universalisation’ of Islam and raising funds for ‘Islamic causes.’
Jalpaiguri and Coochbehar districts, which constitute the Coochbehar sector of the corridor, are bounded by the Bhutan border in the north, starting from Phuntsholing to Kalikhola tri-junction, and are also contiguous with 410 kilometres of international border with Bangladesh. To the east from Kalikhola the boundary runs south along the western bank of the Sankosh River, parallel to Kokrajhar and Dhubri districts in Assam. From the Bangladesh border, there are three points where the Bhutan border is at a distance of approximately 60 kilometres. This area not only has NH 31 and NH 31A running through it, but also has broad-gauge and metre-gauge railway lines passing through before entering Assam. The demographic character of the area along the Bhutan border comprises Santhals, Bodos, Nepalis and Rajbongshis. In the Cooch Behar sector live the Bengali Hindus, Rajbongshis, Bengali and Bihari Muslims. Rajbongshis, Bengali Hindus and Muslims live in the areas along the Bangladesh border.
The demographic profile within a 5-kilometre belt of the international border with Bangladesh has undergone rapid changes. According to intelligence sources, in Jalpaiguri district, while the population of Hindus and Muslims has been 1,35,938 and 1,63,522 respectively in 1981, in 1991 it rose to 1,90,805 and 2,35,733 respectively. In Coochbehar, the figure in 1981 was 2,17,588 and 1,41,001 respectively; while in 1991 it was 2,94,038 and 1,85,528 respectively. In the Shiliguri sub-division of Darjeeling district, the numbers were 48,110 and 71,215, respectively, in 1981; while in 1991, they were 72,518 and 1,12.302, respectively. In the Islampur and Raigunj sub-divisions of north Dinajpur, they were 1,78,583 and 2,60,507, respectively, in 1981; rising to 2,51,472 and 3,41,325, respectively, in 1991.
In early 1999, a media report had indicated that a significant demographic transformation was occurring around the Corridor, causing serious concern among security agencies. The report, quoting official sources, pointed out that, while in 1971 the Muslim population was 15 per cent, in recent years it has touched a high of 70 per cent in some areas, primarily due to illegal immigration from Bangladesh. The report referred to the phenomenon of a large number of Muslim immigrants residing in Islampur of North Dinajpur district as also Kishangunj of Bihar. The report had also claimed that untrammelled passage through these areas was available to the thousands of Bihari Muslims who claim Pakistan’s nationality but remain in Bangladesh because the former refuses to take them in.29
Given the criticality of threat perceptions, one needs to discern the reasons for such an apparent laxity in vigil. It is plausible to seek explanations in the tradition of thin policing of the borders in the area. Security force levels in the Cooch Behar sector30 consist of four units of the Border Security Force (BSF) deployed along the 410 km of the international border, from border post number 814 to 1001; on the Assam-Bhutan border, a three-company strength of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) is deployed. The West Bengal Armed Police maintains a platoon and an Army unit is deployed in Cooch Behar, but is not assigned internal security duty. SSB companies are also deployed in Tufanganj, Natuarpur and Hindusthan, and in other areas in the sector. The configuration of intelligence agencies in the area has the Intelligence Bureau at the apex followed by the Field Intelligence Units (FIU) of the Army, SSB and the BSF. Efforts are currently being directed towards seeking a unified effort and greater co-ordination in operations of the security forces.
One of the key security concerns of the area is gunrunning. According to a media report, there were two routes through which this lucrative trade was being conducted. In the first, arms were first sent to certain safe havens in Shiliguri and later dispatched in small quantities by local couriers who would typically travel by road or rail. Consignments were then loaded on Dooars-bound buses heading towards Jaigaon on the Indo-Bhutan border. Gunrunners also utilise the metre-gauge railway line between Shiliguri and Alipurduar via Hashimara and Birpara. They are then transferred to hideouts in the Jayanti hills in the north or Alipurduar in the south.31 The other preferred route is through the riverine tri-junction in Kishangunj in the Coochbehar district of West Bengal. The loads are ferried by country boats at night and later transported in small numbers by local carriers to Islamabad in Madarihat and Falakata in the Jalpaiguri district.
Another cause for concern for the security apparatus is the growing nexus between the militant groups and illegal timber traders. Along the Assam-West Bengal border, timber trading is a lucrative business due its high demand in West Bengal and in other parts of the country. Various sawmills in the area north of Bakshirhat in Cooch Behar are reported to be recipients of smuggled timber, including teak and sesame wood, from Assam. Sawmill owners enjoy the patronage of terrorist outfits based in Assam, who in turn extort large sums of money from them in return for security. In their operations, the militants also utilise various modes of transport like trucks, mini vans and motorcycles owned by the sawmill owners. Recent developments show that the Bodo militants, as also the ULFA, have shifted base to the forests of Bhutan, traversing from their earlier safe houses in Bangladesh. At the narrowest point in the region, the distance between the Bhutan border and the Bangladesh border is a mere 60 kilometres. And considering the fact that the Cooch Behar sector is relatively calm, it is policed lightly. Furthermore, there are no mobile checkposts in the region to challenge any movement of suspicious nature.
Intelligence agencies fear that many key installations in the Shiliguri Corridor are liable to sabotage by militants. Such installations include the bridge on the national highway near Barovisha in Darjeeling district, the railway-bridge over river Raidhak, the bridge connecting the national highway and the railway-bridge over Sankosh River.
Before 1947, the North Eastern States, especially Assam, were connected with the mainland through waterways, road and railway networks running through what was then a part of the Bengal Presidency and later named East Pakistan and, eventually, Bangladesh. Thus, linkages between that country and the Assamese were deep, and these, the ISI later sought to exploit. In fact, a Foreign Service officer of Bangladesh, Mohammad Siddique, has claimed that "India had received the corridor at Shiliguri, though Bangladesh (i.e. the then East Pakistan) had more claims over the territory because of population characteristics."32
Such a mindset has created worries in the security establishment, and these were articulated by the former Director of the Intelligence Bureau and former Governor of West Bengal, T V Rajeshwar: "It is not Kashmir alone which should cause anxiety. The Bangladeshi infiltration, which continues unabated, has changed the demographic pattern of eastern India. There is a grave danger to the Shiliguri Corridor, which is the lifeline of the seven North Eastern states and Sikkim, because of the concentration of the Bangladeshi migrants there. Bengal’s premier in 1946, Nizamuddin, wrote to Governor R.G. Casey that Bengal would soon become a Muslim majority province if left undisturbed. Even if his dream was belied because of the Partition, Dr. Henry Kissinger’s foreboding of a Muslim majority state emerging from within Indian borders is there to contend with."33
Thus, it is evident that the Shiliguri Corridor faces major threats in its geographical vicinity from the overbearing Chinese presence as also from relatively minor neighbours like Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan. Furthermore, the overarching consideration in the security framework is the ability of Pakistan to subvert the regimes in these countries and consequently increase insurgent pressures in the area.
Since the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rehman, the architect of Bangladesh and its first Premier, every regime in that country has fostered anti-Indian forces within its territorial ambit. Indeed, Begum Khaleda Zia, the current Premier, had gone to the extent of calling the Northeast insurgents, "freedom fighters."34 The crucial leverage that Bangladesh has gained in its endeavour to create instability in India at a low cost is the large number of its own people residing on Indian soil. The Bangladeshis have a novel way of ‘legalising’ their immigration in India. The relatives who are in India reportedly get the names of those across the border included in the voters’ list during enumeration. As their names finally appear in the list, messages are then sent across to them to finally cross over. It is this population that reportedly creates a buffer of non-combatants for the militants and they utilise them as perfect cover.
Even though an Indian protectorate, the Royal Kingdom of Bhutan has, in the recent past, played host to ULFA and Bodo militants, who have found a comfortable habitat in the southern part of the country. In fact, some reports claim that captured ULFA cadres have vouched to witnessing three visits by the King of Bhutan to their camps. However, recent reports reveal that the Bhutanese government has commenced fortification of its borders with Assam, ostensibly to deter the free passage of militants. They have reportedly deployed 3,000 troops on the border and are planning to put more forces on the ground.35 But the King and the government indicate marked reluctance to engage the militants on the grounds that "We are not sure of the kind of support these militant groups enjoy in Assam and in case there is an armed conflict between the Bhutanese security forces and the militants, it would have a major impact on the country’s economy and its age-old relations between the people of Bhutan and Assam would be seriously affected. It may take many years before the relations normalised."36
Certain analysts perceive eastern Nepal, bordering the Shiliguri Corridor, to be the springboard for Pakistan-sponsored insurgency in the Northeast. Nepal’s proximity to this passage assumes significance because of its strategic importance. Bound by Nepal and Bangladesh in the south, the use of this passage for transferring small arms and contraband from both the countries is now well established.37
The fact that Nepal has been open to subversion by ISI operatives is also beyond dispute. Yakoob Memon, one of the accused in the 1993 Mumbai blast case, was traced in Nepal,38 and then the infamous IC-814 hijacking had its origins at the Tribhuvan International Airport, causing substantial damage to bilateral relations between India and Nepal, which took some effort in mending. But the fact that the Nepalese are not adopting a laid-back attitude about taking actions against those who are using their territory for launching anti-India campaigns is evident in the recent arrest and incarceration of a senior Pakistani diplomat, who was found in possession of large quantities of explosives.39
In 1962, when the Chinese had begun their troop concentration across the border, Indian security planners were rightly worried about the possible threat to eastern India. This had led to a decision to withdraw troops from the Punjab border with Pakistan and mass them in Shiliguri focusing on the area of the Corridor. This was a difficult decision to make because intelligence agencies were suspicious of General Ayub Khan’s intentions. Yet, the then Defence Minister, V.K. Krishna Menon, had obtained the necessary clearance from the then Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, to move troops from the Northwest to the East.40
One may take note that the Kamtapur Peoples’ Party (KPP), which contested the recent elections to the State Legislative Assembly in West Bengal, had failed to secure a significant mandate. Receiving an average of seven per cent of the total votes polled, the KPP has been humbled in vast tracts of North Bengal, which it wants to be a part of their ‘new State’ of Kamtapur. But now that they have failed to secure democratic sanction for themselves that could have validated their demand by providing numerical muscle, what will the party’s next agenda be? There exists a sense of collective denial about the existence of any insurgent action committed by anyone attached to the movement for a separate Kamtapur.41 Almost to a man, the KPP leadership has refused to acknowledge the existence of the KLO, even as the security agencies were equally insistent about its threatening presence.
In the light of these developments, it is imperative to critically scrutinise the significance of the Shiliguri Corridor and to initiate steps to render it safe in the larger interest of maintaining the sovereign security and integrity of the region as also of the nation.
ENDNOES
#Pinaki Bhattacharya is a Special Correspondent with Mathrubhumi, and is based in Kolkata, covering West Bengal and the Northeast.
The meeting took place in Assam. Source: Intelligence reports..
"Evaluation of the Chinese Threat", See www.indiavotes.com/columns1/2001feb2-tksludra.html
The corridor comprises Islampur sub-division of Darjeeling district, Jalpaiguri Sadar and Alipurduar sub-divisions of Jalpaiguri district and Toofanganj, Mathabhanga, Coochbehar Sadar, Dinhata and Mekhliganj sub-divisions of Coochbehar district.
Based on the report of the Kargil Review Committee chaired by K Subrahmanyam, the then Convenor of the National Security Advisory Board, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee constituted a Group of Cabinet Ministers (GoM) in April 2000 to review the national security system and to formulate specific proposals for implementation. The GoM set up four task forces, one each for intelligence apparatus, border management, internal security and management of defence. Madhav Godbole, a former Home Secretary, headed the task force on border management. He submitted a 499-page report to the GoM, headed by Union Home Minister L.K. Advani.
See "Ministerial group gets report on border management", www.expressindia.com/ie/daily/20000830/ina30040.html; The Godbole report recommended that paramilitary forces such as the Border Security Force, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police and Assam Rifles should man international borders, but operate directly under the army in cases where the boundary line is unsettled or under dispute.
The Telegraph, Kolkata, December 11, 2000
The Kamatapur Liberation Organisation (KLO) was formed in 1995 by the Koch-Rajbongshi tribes to carve out a separate Kamatapur State, comprising six north Bengal districts and Goalpara district in lower Assam through an armed struggle. For a profile of the KLO, see South Asia Terrorism Portal; India; Terrorist Groups; Assam; KLO; www.satp.org
"WB separatists woo Assam tribals" www.northeastvigil.com/newsarch/01121999i.htm
Ibid. The decision to prop up Rajbongshi rebel outfits was taken by the ULFA in December 1995 at the initiative of Raju Baruah, a senior leader of the ULFA's military wing. Subsequently, the ULFA entrusted the then chairman of its Darrang district unit, Ajit Kachari, with the task of setting up the Koch-Rajbongshi Liberation Organisation (KRLO) in Lower Assam. Simultaneously, the Kamtapur Liberation Organisation (KLO) was formed in North Bengal following a meeting at Kumargram. The first batch of 25 KRLO members went to the ULFA camps in Bhutan for training in December 1995.
"India: ULFA, KLO to launch joint movement in Assam". Both the outfits also decided to indulge in joint extortion drives in Assam. This decision was taken at a meeting in Bhutan in July 2001. www.satp.org/news/2001/August/news23.htm
"India: North Bengal turning into hotbed of militancy", www.satp.org/news/November/news%2014.htm#8
See South Asia Terrorism Portal ; India; Terrorist Groups; Assam; KLO; www.satp.org
"West Bengal seeks more forces" www.rediff.com/news/1999/dec/09wb.htm
"Kamtapur-Ne Nexus Uncovered", www.telegraphindia.com/archive/1010531/national.htm#head2
"Ominous Kamtapur Nexus Unearthed", www.telegraphindia.com/archive/1001210/front_pa.htm#head2
Ibid. Nichula base is adjacent to Kalikhola on the Indo-Bhutan border north of Uttar Haldibari. The camp, reportedly, is approximately 8 km north of Allay bust, the last Bhutanese border village, inside the Fifshu jungle.
"Separatist movement in North Bengal gets Ulfa help", www.news.india-today.com/ntoday/newsarchives/100/12/10/n133.shtml
"Bengal CM cautions against ultras", www.rediff.com/news/2000/dec/04ne.htm
Ibid.
Two suspected militants were killed in an encounter with police at Tinkatari near Samshing, close to the Bhutan border on November 12, 2000. Those killed were reportedly cadres of the Gorkha Liberation Organisation. One security force personnel was killed and another injured during the encounter. See "Naga ultras killed in shootout", Statesman, Kolkata, November 13, 2000.
On February 9, 2001, militants armed with sophisticated rifles and grenades attacked Ghising’s convoy bound for Darjeeling from Shiliguri on a narrow and winding mountain road. See "Thunder in the hills", Hindu, Chennai, February 18, 2001. Subba was arrested on March 23, 2001 near the Indo-Nepal border.
"Stealthily, a rebel Gorkha group builds a base", http://news.india-today.com/ntoday/newsarchives/100/11/28/n52.shtml.
"Bengal CM cautions against ultras", www.rediff.com/news/2000/dec/04ne.htm
"Ultra Getting Arms from Khmer Rouge", http://piglet.uccs.edu/~kalita/assam/news/1997/1997-11-25.html, See also "ISI training outfits in camps across Bangladesh", www.northeastvigil.com/newsarch/16052000i.htm#i06
See South Asia Terrorism Portal; India; Assessment; www.satp.org
Times of India, New Delhi, May 19, 2001.
Indiainfo.com, October 26, 2000.
Pioneer, New Delhi, June 23, 1999. Also see "The Islamization of West Bengal", www.swordoftruth.com/swordoftruth/archives/byauthor/dhruvajyotibarua/ tiowb.html
Times of India, February 15, 1999.
Intelligence sources.
Telegraph, December 13, 2000.
"Kathmandu Revisited", People’s Review, Kathmandu, August 7, 1997.
T.V Rajeshwar, "The Lessons of Kosovo", Hindu, May 5, 1999.
Sreeradha Dutta, Security of India’s Northeast: External Linkages", Strategic Analysis, New Delhi, November 2000, Vol. XXIV No. 8, p. 1506.
Times of India, May 19, 2001.
Times of India, April 16, 2001.
Hindu, September 8, 1999.
Dutta, "Security of India’s Northeast", p. 1506.
Police in Kathmandu arrested a senior Pakistani diplomat Mohammad Arshad with 16 kg of RDX on April 12, 2001. According to official sources, the arrested diplomat, the first secretary in the Pakistani Embassy, was due to return to his country after a posting in Nepal. See www.satp.org/satporgtp/detailsmall_news.asp?date1=4/13/2001&id=7
B.N. Mullik, The Chinese Betrayal, Delhi: Allied Publishers, 1971, p. 382.
This was made evident during the writer’s visit to the region.
January 26, 2009 Issue
Copyright © 2009 The American Conservative
Another War, Another Defeat PDF
The Gaza offensive has succeeded in punishing the Palestinians but not in making Israel more secure.
By John J. Mearsheimer
Israelis and their American supporters claim that Israel learned its lessons well from the disastrous 2006 Lebanon war and has devised a winning strategy for the present war against Hamas. Of course, when a ceasefire comes, Israel will declare victory. Don’t believe it. Israel has foolishly started another war it cannot win.
The campaign in Gaza is said to have two objectives: 1) to put an end to the rockets and mortars that Palestinians have been firing into southern Israel since it withdrew from Gaza in August 2005; 2) to restore Israel’s deterrent, which was said to be diminished by the Lebanon fiasco, by Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza, and by its inability to halt Iran’s nuclear program.
But these are not the real goals of Operation Cast Lead. The actual purpose is connected to Israel’s long-term vision of how it intends to live with millions of Palestinians in its midst. It is part of a broader strategic goal: the creation of a “Greater Israel.” Specifically, Israel’s leaders remain determined to control all of what used to be known as Mandate Palestine, which includes Gaza and the West Bank. The Palestinians would have limited autonomy in a handful of disconnected and economically crippled enclaves, one of which is Gaza. Israel would control the borders around them, movement between them, the air above and the water below them.
The key to achieving this is to inflict massive pain on the Palestinians so that they come to accept the fact that they are a defeated people and that Israel will be largely responsible for controlling their future. This strategy, which was first articulated by Ze’ev Jabotinsky in the 1920s and has heavily influenced Israeli policy since 1948, is commonly referred to as the “Iron Wall.”
What has been happening in Gaza is fully consistent with this strategy.
Let’s begin with Israel’s decision to withdraw from Gaza in 2005. The conventional wisdom is that Israel was serious about making peace with the Palestinians and that its leaders hoped the exit from Gaza would be a major step toward creating a viable Palestinian state. According to the New York Times’ Thomas L. Friedman, Israel was giving the Palestinians an opportunity to “build a decent mini-state there—a Dubai on the Mediterranean,” and if they did so, it would “fundamentally reshape the Israeli debate about whether the Palestinians can be handed most of the West Bank.”
This is pure fiction. Even before Hamas came to power, the Israelis intended to create an open-air prison for the Palestinians in Gaza and inflict great pain on them until they complied with Israel’s wishes. Dov Weisglass, Ariel Sharon’s closest adviser at the time, candidly stated that the disengagement from Gaza was aimed at halting the peace process, not encouraging it. He described the disengagement as “formaldehyde that’s necessary so that there will not be a political process with the Palestinians.” Moreover, he emphasized that the withdrawal “places the Palestinians under tremendous pressure. It forces them into a corner where they hate to be.”
Arnon Soffer, a prominent Israeli demographer who also advised Sharon, elaborated on what that pressure would look like. “When 2.5 million people live in a closed-off Gaza, it’s going to be a human catastrophe. Those people will become even bigger animals than they are today, with the aid of an insane fundamentalist Islam. The pressure at the border will be awful. It’s going to be a terrible war. So, if we want to remain alive, we will have to kill and kill and kill. All day, every day.”
In January 2006, five months after the Israelis pulled their settlers out of Gaza, Hamas won a decisive victory over Fatah in the Palestinian legislative elections. This meant trouble for Israel’s strategy because Hamas was democratically elected, well organized, not corrupt like Fatah, and unwilling to accept Israel’s existence. Israel responded by ratcheting up economic pressure on the Palestinians, but it did not work. In fact, the situation took another turn for the worse in March 2007, when Fatah and Hamas came together to form a national unity government. Hamas’s stature and political power were growing, and Israel’s divide-and-conquer strategy was unraveling.
To make matters worse, the national unity government began pushing for a long-term ceasefire. The Palestinians would end all missile attacks on Israel if the Israelis would stop arresting and assassinating Palestinians and end their economic stranglehold, opening the border crossings into Gaza.
Israel rejected that offer and with American backing set out to foment a civil war between Fatah and Hamas that would wreck the national unity government and put Fatah in charge. The plan backfired when Hamas drove Fatah out of Gaza, leaving Hamas in charge there and the more pliant Fatah in control of the West Bank. Israel then tightened the screws on the blockade around Gaza, causing even greater hardship and suffering among the Palestinians living there.
Hamas responded by continuing to fire rockets and mortars into Israel, while emphasizing that they still sought a long-term ceasefire, perhaps lasting ten years or more. This was not a noble gesture on Hamas’s part: they sought a ceasefire because the balance of power heavily favored Israel. The Israelis had no interest in a ceasefire and merely intensified the economic pressure on Gaza. But in the late spring of 2008, pressure from Israelis living under the rocket attacks led the government to agree to a six-month ceasefire starting on June 19. That agreement, which formally ended on Dec. 19, immediately preceded the present war, which began on Dec. 27.
The official Israeli position blames Hamas for undermining the ceasefire. This view is widely accepted in the United States, but it is not true. Israeli leaders disliked the ceasefire from the start, and Defense Minister Ehud Barak instructed the IDF to begin preparing for the present war while the ceasefire was being negotiated in June 2008. Furthermore, Dan Gillerman, Israel’s former ambassador to the UN, reports that Jerusalem began to prepare the propaganda campaign to sell the present war months before the conflict began. For its part, Hamas drastically reduced the number of missile attacks during the first five months of the ceasefire. A total of two rockets were fired into Israel during September and October, none by Hamas.
How did Israel behave during this same period? It continued arresting and assassinating Palestinians on the West Bank, and it continued the deadly blockade that was slowly strangling Gaza. Then on Nov. 4, as Americans voted for a new president, Israel attacked a tunnel inside Gaza and killed six Palestinians. It was the first major violation of the ceasefire, and the Palestinians—who had been “careful to maintain the ceasefire,” according to Israel’s Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center—responded by resuming rocket attacks. The calm that had prevailed since June vanished as Israel ratcheted up the blockade and its attacks into Gaza and the Palestinians hurled more rockets at Israel. It is worth noting that not a single Israeli was killed by Palestinian missiles between Nov. 4 and the launching of the war on Dec. 27.
As the violence increased, Hamas made clear that it had no interest in extending the ceasefire beyond Dec. 19, which is hardly surprising, since it had not worked as intended. In mid-December, however, Hamas informed Israel that it was still willing to negotiate a long-term ceasefire if it included an end to the arrests and assassinations as well as the lifting of the blockade. But the Israelis, having used the ceasefire to prepare for war against Hamas, rejected this overture. The bombing of Gaza commenced eight days after the failed ceasefire formally ended.
If Israel wanted to stop missile attacks from Gaza, it could have done so by arranging a long-term ceasefire with Hamas. And if Israel were genuinely interested in creating a viable Palestinian state, it could have worked with the national unity government to implement a meaningful ceasefire and change Hamas’s thinking about a two-state solution. But Israel has a different agenda: it is determined to employ the Iron Wall strategy to get the Palestinians in Gaza to accept their fate as hapless subjects of a Greater Israel.
This brutal policy is clearly reflected in Israel’s conduct of the Gaza War. Israel and its supporters claim that the IDF is going to great lengths to avoid civilian casualties, in some cases taking risks that put Israeli soldiers in jeopardy. Hardly. One reason to doubt these claims is that Israel refuses to allow reporters into the war zone: it does not want the world to see what its soldiers and bombs are doing inside Gaza. At the same time, Israel has launched a massive propaganda campaign to put a positive spin on the horror stories that do emerge.
The best evidence, however, that Israel is deliberately seeking to punish the broader population in Gaza is the death and destruction the IDF has wrought on that small piece of real estate. Israel has killed over 1,000 Palestinians and wounded more than 4,000. Over half of the casualties are civilians, and many are children. The IDF’s opening salvo on Dec. 27 took place as children were leaving school, and one of its primary targets that day was a large group of graduating police cadets, who hardly qualified as terrorists. In what Ehud Barak called “an all-out war against Hamas,” Israel has targeted a university, schools, mosques, homes, apartment buildings, government offices, and even ambulances. A senior Israeli military official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, explained the logic behind Israel’s expansive target set: “There are many aspects of Hamas, and we are trying to hit the whole spectrum, because everything is connected and everything supports terrorism against Israel.” In other words, everyone is a terrorist and everything is a legitimate target.
Israelis tend to be blunt, and they occasionally say what they are really doing. After the IDF killed 40 Palestinian civilians in a UN school on Jan. 6, Ha’aretz reported that “senior officers admit that the IDF has been using enormous firepower.” One officer explained, “For us, being cautious means being aggressive. From the minute we entered, we’ve acted like we’re at war. That creates enormous damage on the ground … I just hope those who have fled the area of Gaza City in which we are operating will describe the shock.”
One might accept that Israel is waging “a cruel, all-out war against 1.5 million Palestinian civilians,” as Ha’aretz put it in an editorial, but argue that it will eventually achieve its war aims and the rest of the world will quickly forget the horrors inflicted on the people of Gaza.
This is wishful thinking. For starters, Israel is unlikely to stop the rocket fire for any appreciable period of time unless it agrees to open Gaza’s borders and stop arresting and killing Palestinians. Israelis talk about cutting off the supply of rockets and mortars into Gaza, but weapons will continue to come in via secret tunnels and ships that sneak through Israel’s naval blockade. It will also be impossible to police all of the goods sent into Gaza through legitimate channels.
Israel could try to conquer all of Gaza and lock the place down. That would probably stop the rocket attacks if Israel deployed a large enough force. But then the IDF would be bogged down in a costly occupation against a deeply hostile population. They would eventually have to leave, and the rocket fire would resume. And if Israel fails to stop the rocket fire and keep it stopped, as seems likely, its deterrent will be diminished, not strengthened.
More importantly, there is little reason to think that the Israelis can beat Hamas into submission and get the Palestinians to live quietly in a handful of Bantustans inside Greater Israel. Israel has been humiliating, torturing, and killing Palestinians in the Occupied Territories since 1967 and has not come close to cowing them. Indeed, Hamas’s reaction to Israel’s brutality seems to lend credence to Nietzsche’s remark that what does not kill you makes you stronger.
But even if the unexpected happens and the Palestinians cave, Israel would still lose because it will become an apartheid state. As Prime Minister Ehud Olmert recently said, Israel will “face a South African-style struggle” if the Palestinians do not get a viable state of their own. “As soon as that happens,” he argued, “the state of Israel is finished.” Yet Olmert has done nothing to stop settlement expansion and create a viable Palestinian state, relying instead on the Iron Wall strategy to deal with the Palestinians.
There is also little chance that people around the world who follow the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will soon forget the appalling punishment that Israel is meting out in Gaza. The destruction is just too obvious to miss, and too many people—especially in the Arab and Islamic world—care about the Palestinians’ fate. Moreover, discourse about this longstanding conflict has undergone a sea change in the West in recent years, and many of us who were once wholly sympathetic to Israel now see that the Israelis are the victimizers and the Palestinians are the victims. What is happening in Gaza will accelerate that changing picture of the conflict and long be seen as a dark stain on Israel’s reputation.
The bottom line is that no matter what happens on the battlefield, Israel cannot win its war in Gaza. In fact, it is pursuing a strategy—with lots of help from its so-called friends in the Diaspora—that is placing its long-term future at risk. __________________________________________
John J. Mearsheimer is a professor of political science at the University of Chicago and coauthor of The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy.
The American Conservative welcomes letters to the editor.
Send letters to: letters@amconmag.com
This article was sent to me privately this morning. It reflects my own views about the in-coming Obama Administration better than anything else I have read.
Hajja Romi
If Obama didn't speak up given the horrors of this most recent Israeli pogrom against the Palestinian people in Gaza he isn't going to do or say anything contrary to existing U.S. foreign policy.
In fact, there is plenty of evidence to suggest that Barack Obama sent signals to Israel along the lines: Go ahead and do your dirty deeds, don't tell me what you are going to do I don't want to know, just go ahead and do whatever it is you intend to do and be done before Inaugaration Day.
This is the exact same kind of policies of the Russian Czars--- who, by the way, were as thrilled with Zionism as the United States Congress.
What we are now seeing with Obama is a foreign policy of "benign neglect;" or, "I'll give you the money and arms but don't tell me what you intend to do with them I don't want to know." A new foreign policy?
After the the shameful Senate and House votes on the resolutions supporting this latest Israeli killing spree and rampage in Gaza, it is very naive for anyone to think that until progressives in the United States break free from the Democratic Party (the two-party trap) there will be anything but "business as usual" in foreign or domestic policy... and anyone who thinks that the American people will get anything of benefit from a government that is so morally rotten and corrupt that it would encourage the kind of barbarity and cannibalistic behavior we have seen by the Israelis in Gaza over the recent weeks is in store for a very rude awakening.
If anyone thinks that the terms "barbaric" and "cannibalistic" are too harsh I would urge them to consider that the Israelis and their killing machine paid for with our tax-dollars did every grotesue and anti-human thing imagineable except eat their victims... and they might have done this, too, if not for the type of weapons used which made their victims unpalatble to these bestial monsters.
I would note that the only organized "progressive" voices within the Democratic Party, namely: Progressive Democrats of America, the Campaign for America's Future and Progressives for Obama, have all failed to organize in support and solidarity with the Palestinian people of Gaza at a time when it counted: when they were under attack.
Robert Borosage, the leader of the Campaign for America's Future (CAF), in response to my inquiry as to why after two weeks of this barbaric Israeli rampage the CAF had not spoken out, declared: "We don't do the Middle East," as if he was saying this with great pride; all this weekend the Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) were meeting, and not a peep from them about Gaza! Even as they talked about "Health care, Not Warfare" there was not a mention that the United States was spending billions of dollars paying for the death and destruction Israel brought upon the Palestinian people in Gaza; and the "Progressives for Obama" who pledged that they were organized to hold Obama's feet to the fire, did little more than circulate a few newspaper clippings even though there was some questioning as to Obama's silence... but, this "silence" was never analyzed in a way that this is what Obama's election is really all about... they brushed Obama's silence aside as if it is some kind of anomaly by a "President-elect who we can still expect good things from."
Here in Minnesota, Democratic United States Congressman Keith Ellison has been very vague and two-faced on this issue in refusing to pressure Obama to speak up while blaming everything on Bush.
Placing blame on Bush only goes so far when the United States Senate with an overwhelming Democratic majority voted--- without one voice of dissent--- to support Israel's barbarity... ditto for the House, where at least there were a few--- very, very few--- voices of opposition (from Democrats and Republicans) .
I find it very interesting that even with Bush now leaving office, Democrats who acquiesed to his every whim and war throughout these eight-long years of the most reactionary politics in this country... are going to go on blaming Bush even though the Democrats in both houses of Congress had the power to say no to these two shameful resolutions which probably are so shameful that such disgraceful governmental conduct on the part of any government from any country since the end of World War II could not be found... one would have to go back to the near unanimous refusal of the United States Congress to refuse to ship arms to the anti-fascists in Spain as anti-fascists were being slaughtered because they had run out of bullets to defend themselves and the Spanish Republic.
Now, if Barack Obama could not find it within himself to muster the moral and political courage to speak in opposition to this Israeli killing spree, I don't understand how anyone can expect him to change U.S. foreign policy with regard to support for the racist, warmongering, reactionary government in Israel.
And for those who have any hope that Israeli policy is going to be changing from within anytime soon; we only have to remember what happened to Rabin... a bullet finished him off just like Martin Luther King.
How it is that the Progressive Democrats of America would meet this weekend a refused to focus on this Israeli carnage in Gaza as they discussed "Health care, Not Warfare" I will never understand; perhaps Tim Carpenter will provide us all an explanation.
Alan L. Maki
The White House Moron Stumbles to the Finish
The Humiliation of America
By PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS
“Early Friday morning the secretary of state was considering bringing the cease-fire resolution to a UNSC vote and we didn’t want her to vote for it,” Olmert said. “I said ‘get President Bush on the phone.’ They tried and told me he was in the middle of a lecture in Philadelphia. I said ‘I’m not interested, I need to speak to him now.’ He got down from the podium, went out and took the phone call.”
"Let me see if I understand this,” wrote a friend in response to news reports that Israeli Prime Minister Olmert ordered President Bush from the podium where he was giving a speech to receive Israel’s instructions about how the United States had to vote on the UN resolution. “On September 11th, President Bush is interrupted while reading a story to school children and told the World Trade Center had been hit--and he went on reading. Now, Olmert calls about a UN resolution when Bush is giving a speech and Bush leaves the stage to take the call. There exists no greater example of a master-servant relationship.”
Olmert gloated as he told Israelis how he had shamed US Secretary of State Condi Rice by preventing the American Secretary of State from supporting a resolution that she had helped to craft. Olmert proudly related how he had interrupted President Bush’s speech in order to give Bush his marching orders on the UN vote.
Israeli politicians have been bragging for decades about the control they exercise over the US government. In his final press conference, President Bush, deluded to the very end, said that the whole world respects America. In fact, when the world looks at America, what it sees is an Israeli colony.
Responding to mounting reports from the Red Cross and human rights organizations of Israel’s massive war crimes in Gaza, the United Nations Human Rights Council voted 33-1 on January 12 to condemn Israel for grave offenses against human rights.
On January 13, the London Times reported that Israelis have gathered on a hillside overlooking Gaza to enjoy the slaughter of Palestinians in what the Times calls “the ultimate spectator sport.”
It is American supplied F-16 fighter jets, helicopter gunships, missiles, and bombs that are destroying the civilian infrastructure of Gaza and murdering the Palestinians who have been packed into the tiny strip of land. What is happening to the Palestinians herded into the Gaza Ghetto is happening because of American money and weapons. It is just as much an attack by the United States as an attack by Israel. The US government is complicit in the war crimes.
Yet in his farewell press conference on January 12, Bush said that the world respects America for its compassion.
The compassion of bombing a UN school for girls?
The compassion of herding 100 Palestinians into one house and then shelling it?
The compassion of bombing hospitals and mosques?
The compassion of depriving 1.5 million Palestinians of food, medicine, and energy?
The compassion of violently overthrowing the democratically elected Hamas government?
The compassion of blowing up the infrastructure of one of the poorest and most deprived people on earth?
The compassion of abstaining from a Security Council vote condemning these actions?
And this is a repeat of what the Israelis and Americans did to Lebanon in 2006, what the Americans did to Iraqis for six years and are continuing to do to Afghans after seven years. And still hope to do to the Iranians and Syrians.
In 2002 I designated George W. Bush “the White House Moron.” If there ever was any doubt about this designation, Bush’s final press conference dispelled it.
Bush talked about connecting the dots, but Bush has failed to connect any dots for eight solid years. “Our” president was a puppet for a cabal led by Dick Cheney and a handful of Jewish neoconservatives, who took control of the Pentagon, the State Department, the National Security Council, the CIA, and “Homeland Security.” From these power positions, the neocon cabal used lies and deception to invade Afghanistan and Iraq, pointless wars that have cost Americans $3 trillion, while millions of Americans lose their jobs, their pensions, and their access to health care.
“These obviously very difficult economic times,” Bush said in his press conference, “started before my presidency.”
Bush has plenty of liberal company in failing to connect a $3 trillion dollar war with hard times. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities blames Bush’s tax cut, not the wars, for “the fiscal deterioration.”
Bush told the White House Press Corps, a useless collection of non-journalists, that the two mistakes of his invasion of Iraq were: (1) Putting up the “mission accomplished” banner on the aircraft carrier, which, he said, “sent the wrong message,” and (2) the absence of the alleged weapons of mass destruction that he used to justify the invasion.
Although Bush now admits that there were not any such weapons in Iraq, Bush said that the invasion was still the right thing to do.
The deaths of 1.25 million Iraqis, the displacement of 4 million Iraqis, and the destruction of a country’s infrastructure and economy are merely the collateral damage associated with “bringing freedom and democracy” to the Middle East.
Unless George W. Bush is the best actor in human history, he truly believes what he told the White House Press Corps.
What Bush did not explain is how America is respected when its people put a moron in charge for eight years.
Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan administration. He is coauthor of The Tyranny of Good Intentions.He can be reached at:
PaulCraigRoberts@yahoo.com
In communist_news@yahoogroups.com, mark <mark_j8888@...> wrote:
The blood of murdered innocents is on our hands, too
Posted by Lynn Shaker, Portland,
January 17, 2009 3:49PM
So the world should applaud Israel as they announce a ceasefire in
Palestine? The only reason Israel halted the massacre is because they
accomplished the "task" they set out to achieve. Should anyone not call
what the Israeli's have done mass murder surely they are not following
the world news, and have chosen to listen only to the
biased news and pundits of the United States media.
I often wonder what the Israeli's learned from the Holocaust.
Shameful what the Israeli's have done, shameful that the US continues
to stand by Israel's aggressive, militarized approach to Palestine.
Certainly the blood of the murdered innocents is on our hands
also.http://blog.oregonlive.com/myoregon/2009/01/the_blood_of_murdered_innocent.html
The Bush era saw workers lose their wages, healthcare and pensions
www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2009/jan/16/pres...
What can you say about a president who stands by while millions of
people see their livelihoods destroyed and their old age security
shredded, yet abases himself in front of the most affluent and
privileged of citizens? Dubya's presidency was more than a blot on
American history. It was an ugly, vicious chapter. More than Harding,
with his crony politics and his corruption; more than Hoover, with
his
incompetent response to economic crisis; and more than Nixon, with
his
cavalier disregard for the rule of law, Bush damaged America's social
fabric. An epitaph for Bush's years in office? He took what worked
and
broke it. He took what didn't work and made it worse.
tags: bus
IN CASE OF WAR
India's foreign minister and army chief don't know what they're talking about. Bravado aside, this country does kick ass.
By JAWED SYED
Saturday, 17 January 2008.
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan—Pakistan can fire missiles on a ten-minute notice on all the major Indian cities. Part of this capability is the result of geography: the lack of geographic depth also means that it would take less time for Pakistani missiles to enter Indian air space. The launch and travel time is short.
India needs 30 minutes for initial ignition, partially due to the country's size, response time across the chain of command, and other reasons.
There is also the question of the quality of Pakistani and Indian missiles, the quality of the delivery systems, and the speed with which nuclear weapons can be loaded and launch pad readied.
Pakistan has also not committed itself to no-first use. This means that Pakistan can use nuclear weapons for self defense whenever its chain of command deems the action necessary and not just as a last option. This lack of commitment on the part of Pakistan makes it difficult for Indian warmongers to decide on a `limited war'. Indian officials will be signing on a nuclear war the moment they decide on a war, any war.
If war is imposed, Pakistan can successfully fight for four months with its year-to-date ammunition production resources. No doubt, this is one of the highest ratios among nations of similar size and strength. Moreover, very few people talk about Pakistan's advanced cruise missile program, which India is unable to match. Not yet at least.
Pakistan's missile accuracy is also considered one of the highest. Data from Pakistani missile tests shows that Islamabad has a better test results compared to the data available in public domain on Indian missile tests and the progress of the Indian ballistic missile program.
No matter which way you spin it, one thing is clear: Pakistan is no walk in the part. Just because Pakistan is not out with officials making kooky statements like India's foreign minister and army chief, it doesn't mean Pakistan should be taken lightly.
India is running around pulling its hair. Pakistan is confident.
======
Mr. Jawed Syed can be reached at jawedsyed@msn.com
Please forward this video to anyone who does not understand by now what is going on in Gaza. IMHO it is EXCELLENT, but very graphic, as those of us who having been watching these photos and videos out of Lebanon, Gaza, Iraq, and Afghanistan know.
It is OUR TAXMONEY that is paying for these horrors, and if you don't like watching them, call your congressman, join the next demonstration about Gaza or START YOUR OWN!!!
May God have mercy on these people!
http://www.france24.com/en/20090116-gaza-israel-assault-medics-violence-hospital-war-palestinian
In the mean time the West accuses Muslims of being terrorists it gives the worst model of violence and injustice!!!!!!!!!!!!
A man can only claim civilized when he respects Justice, Human rights and law. Making excuses for breaking all kinds of law does not express but savage.
If Muslims are violent and savage that is because they lived centuries in a world dominated by the West and Western values. How many UN decisions Arabs tried to apply in vain before resorting to armed resistance????
Quran tells Muslims to be Just even with their most hated enemies on the contrary of Western behavior that is breaking every valued principle!!!!!!
About this I wrote an article before Iraq war and here it is below.
Our Enemies Thank You
The USA was able to demolish the former Soviet Union and get it under its control –peacefully. This was a practical proof that it could deal with the greatest opposing forces in the same manner. Therefore the behavior taken in the case of Iraq reflects how bloody and inhuman the western civilization is. After the defeat of Iraq in the gulf war named “Desert Storm” the USA did not get rid of Saddam Hussein regime because "that was an internal Iraqi affair". It was merely an excuse for continuing raids on the Poor helpless Iraq exactly as that who downs his opponent to ground then shooting his limbs before killing him. The same action we see Israeli soldiers – the local representative of the western civilization - do every day on TV screens. Strange enough the declared cause of the USA intended war against Iraq is to get rid of Saddam Hussein so what happened to the “principle “ of not interfering with others internal affair???!!!
The reader of the western Media, reviewing the scenario of the incoming war and the weapons to be used, realizes at once the extent of the bloody motive that moves the greatest western symbols. It was the very same reason that derived both Dr. Murad Hoffmann and R. Garudi to Islam when they compared that with the Islamic situation.
The threat of this culture to world Peace is realized by the westerns before others. In a poll held in UK the majority explained that G. W. Bosh is more dangerous on World Peace than Saddam Hussein. So the world is in need of a cow boy that ties down the bull, and it is here a fully grown nuclear one not the calf we see in the rodeo.
I think this is the role of Muslims by convincing the west that his system has no justice, and for that reason it needs weapons in the individual level before the higher levels. God bless Master Omar Ibn El-Khattab who declared to us this concept by sleeping without guard under a tree in a public road and it was said to him:” You have ruled and applied justice that made you able to lye in peace under this tree Omar.” What is wrong with Bin Laden is that he was trained by the CIA.
So thank you our enemies.
---------------------
A. M.
__._,_.___
From: Dick Eastman <oldickeastman@q.com>
illustrated copy attached
Are you willing that your family be next?
Your inaction tells me that you are.
I am hoping that the following history lesson from Eustace Mullins
will change that.
You and I and everyone you care about have been set up for mass murder
and you need to put aside your natural terror at the prospect and act
rationally and seasonably in an out-of-character attempt to avoid what
now appears all but inevitable.
It is irrational to talk about economic and political reforms you
would like to see when your own government has been captured by a
tribe of pathological killers working towards your speedy destruction
and death. (White puppet Presidents are put in office to deceive the
public and cover the usual political corruption, but when a man is put
in office of a different race and the fact that he was born in a
different country is systematically concealed by the Jews who put him
in power, then you know a real holocaust is about to be unleashed. An
black American president is not a bad idea, but the way this black
president came to power and those he has chosen to fill critical
offices show tells us everything. When mass-murder of a people in a
given country is on the agenda it is necessary that the man leading
the operation not have racial loyalties and close affiliations with
the people targeted.
I am certain. I think most people who will read this are inclined to
agree, but are having a Hamlet crisis about whether to take action
against the murderous traitors and hostile aliens in power - wondering
if whether by keeping silent and looking as docile and cooperative and
accepting of whatever the Zionists have in mind they might save you
from the fate that they intend for those they deem their enemies. The
article by Mullins that follows below is intended to convince you of
the folly of that hope and the certain grim fate that awaits us all in
Paulson defends financial bailout program
By MARTIN CRUTSINGER
AP Economics Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson on Friday defended his handling of the $700 billion financial rescue program, saying it has made real progress toward achieving financial stability.
Paulson said the Bush administration made the correct calls on major decisions in operating the program, even though he and other officials sometimes had to operate with imperfect information that was frequently changing.
His remarks came hours after the government reached an agreement to provide billions of dollars in additional support to Bank of America Corp., and a day after Congress turned back an effort to block release of the second half of the bailout pot.
Paulson also indicated the administration had explored the possibility of establishing a new government-backed bank that would be used to remove bad loans and other toxic assets from commercial banks' balance sheets.
"There is a lot of work that has been done on the aggregator bank," Paulson said, using the term for a bank that would take over bad assets. He did not elaborate on whether he favored the idea or if he would recommend the incoming administration explore it further.
But there is some precedent for the approach. The government in 1989 created the Resolution Trust Corp. to deal with the aftermath of the savings and loan crisis. The RTC disposed of the assets of failed savings and loans.
Stephanie Cutter, a spokeswoman for President-elect Barack Obama's transition team, had no comment on Paulson's remarks. But former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, who Obama has chosen to head a White House economic advisory board, suggested the possible use of an RTC-like agency in a newspaper editorial he co-authored last September.
"This new governmental body would be able to buy up the troubled paper at fair market values, where possible keeping people in their homes and businesses operating," Volcker said in the opinion piece. "Like the RTC, this mechanism should have a limited life and be run by nonpartisan professional management."
The current rescue program has come under heavy criticism from lawmakers unhappy that the administration provided billions of dollars to banks to shore up their finances, but did not impose enough restrictions to insure they would increase their lending and combat what could be the worst financial crisis since the 1930s.
Many lawmakers are pushing the Obama administration to devote more of the money to halting a tidal wave of mortgage foreclosures, and to impose more restrictions on the compensation of top executives working at the banks receiving the money. The incoming administration has pledged to revamp the rescue program to meet congressional objections.
Paulson did not disagree with the new restrictions being sought for the rescue funds, although he contended they mirrored many things the Bush administration already was doing. He said he could understand why the public would be upset with so much money being committed even as the economy remains in turmoil.
"The severe economic downturn, the stresses in the capital markets, have been unsettling to Americans and rightfully so," he told reporters at the Treasury Department.
While it's clear Americans wanted the government's rescue efforts to fix the economy's problems more quickly, Paulson said the spending was having a beneficial impact.
"I will assure you that the (rescue program) has been absolutely essential to financial stability, and financial stability is essential to everything that everyone wants to see happen economically," Paulson said.
The rescue program had made "real progress," he said, but conceded there were "plenty of challenges" remaining in the effort to stabilize the economy.
"I have always said that stability is our first priority, then recovery, then repair," Paulson said.
Jan 16, 3:55 PM EST
Meltdown 101: US tax laws can even foil the pros
By DAVE CARPENTER
AP Personal Finance Writer
If Timothy Geithner can get confused over the laws governing the withholding of tax, anyone can, experts say.
U.S. tax laws are particularly complicated and full of land mines for the unsuspecting, as everyone from the Treasury secretary nominee to self-employed business owners and average taxpayers can confirm.
The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, the global body for professional accountants, views the U.S. tax regime as one of the world's most complex, according to Chas Roy-Chowdhury, London-based head of taxation.
"Even tax professionals could get it wrong," he said, referring to the requirements involving self-employment taxes that tripped up Geithner as well as U.S. tax law in general.
Pitfalls abound, especially for amateurs.
Here are some questions and answers about possible errors related to the withholding of taxes, and what you can do to protect yourself.
Q: What did Geithner do?
A: A U.S. employer normally would withhold half of your Social Security and Medicare taxes from your salary and pay the other half, but the International Monetary Fund does neither so it's the employee's responsibility. Geithner failed to pay self-employment taxes for money he earned from 2001 to 2004 while working for the IMF.
He paid some of the taxes in 2006 after an IRS audit discovered the discrepancy for the years 2003 and 2004. But it wasn't until President-elect Barack Obama selected him late last year to head Treasury that he paid back most of the taxes, incurred in 2001 and 2002.
Q: How could someone like Geithner have made this "innocent" mistake, as Obama calls it?
A: Numerous tax experts say they understand how he might have either gotten ensnared by or overlooked the arcane IMF-related filing requirements. Some note that the tax filing advice given to IMF employees is voluminous and complicated.
Don Williamson, an accountant and professor of taxation at American University's Kogod School of Business, calls Geithner's actions "negligent and perhaps reckless." But he says he deserves at least a partial pass for the faulty 2003 and 2004 returns, since that involved a technical matter his tax preparer should have known about.
Q: How frequently does this happen?
A: Geithner's error apparently is a common one for people hired by international organizations and foreign embassies that don't pay the employer share of Social Security taxes. The IRS estimated in 2006 that as many as half those employees had made tax-filing mistakes.
Q: What about ordinary taxpayers - how often do they make this kind of mistake?
A: Rather than an error, this is more often a case of people learning when they start filling out their tax forms that they owe much more than they thought because of self-employment, according to Mel Schwarz, a partner with accounting firm Grant Thornton who specializes in tax policy.
"It is easy to miss and it can cause a real panic if you don't realize your liability until the last minute," Schwarz said.
Q: What exactly is the self-employment tax and who pays it?
A: It's a Social Security and Medicare tax primarily for individuals who work for themselves - those who operate a trade, business or profession, alone or as a partner. You must report net self-employment earnings of $400 or more on Schedule SE (1040), with the tax calculated from that.
Q: How do I know how much to pay?
A: You figure it using Schedule SE (Form 1040). But a key sticking point is that you must make estimated tax payments throughout the year on self-employment earnings for which you don't have income tax withheld, if you expect to owe $1,000 or more. The IRS Web site has more details.
Q: What kind of penalties could I face if I'm caught underpaying?
A: You will have to pay a penalty of 0.5 percent of your unpaid taxes for each month the tax is late. You also will owe the government interest, currently 6 percent.
If you paid at least 90 percent of your actual tax liability, the penalty does not apply during the automatic six-month extension granted for you to pay in full.
Q: What if I don't pay at all?
A: You face a penalty of 5 percent per month, up to a total of 25 percent.
Whatever you do, don't skip filing because you are afraid you don't have the money. Talk to the IRS about paying in installments. That's much preferable to subjecting yourself to the failure-to-file penalty.
Q: If I've discovered an error, what should I do?
A: File a corrected return. And if it's a huge error, go to an attorney.
The IRS statute of limitations for income tax errors, excluding ones involving outright fraud, is generally three years after the due date. For income tax fraud or evasion, the statute runs for a much longer time.
Q: What if I'm uncertain about whether earnings are subject to employment taxation?
A: A taxpayer with such concerns should ask both the employer's human resources department, if that applies, and the Internal Revenue Service, advises Avram Sacks, a Social Security law analyst for Riverwoods, Ill.-based Wolters Kluwer, which provides tax information and services to tax professionals. If the answers don't match, the employee needs to inquire further. Having a good accountant who has experience in the types of issues confronting the taxpayer also is very helpful, particularly if the issue is arcane.
Q: Will I be protected from this kind of problem if I have an accountant?
A: Relying on an accountant or tax professional obviously should lessen the chances of it happening. But ultimately it's the taxpayer who's responsible if a flawed return is filed under his name. Ask Geithner.
"Taxpayers, especially sophisticated ones, have a duty to know enough to avoid the 'too good to be true' consequences of receiving a check for tax benefits and not seeing the result on a return," said Royal Dellinger, a Rockville, Md., accountant who has handled tax returns for several IMF employees.
Q: Will electronic tax preparation help protect me?
A: Tax software can be a helpful tool but should not be relied upon completely, especially in the case of nonstandard issues.
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On the Net:
Internal Revenue Service: http://www.irs.gov
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